La Noria Light Rail

The La Noria light rail station takes it’s name, as does the surrounding colonia, from the old Hacienda La Noria. This was a colonial era ranch, that later styled itself as a hacienda. It had begun in the 16th century with a small chapel later called the Chapel of San Juan Evangelista Tzomolco. Tzomolco was the Nahuatl name for the area. It means “hill that breaks apart” and it had been the ancient center of this part of Xochimilco.

The station logo depicts a waterwheel, an early hydraulic source of industrial power. In most cases in central Mexico, water wheels were used first to power grinders, or grain mills. They were later adapted to equipment for making paper and textiles especially important across the southern Valley of Mexico at Loreto and at other points in La Magdalena Contreras.

The La Noria light rail station is that used most often for the Dolores Olmedo Museum. The museum was built on the grounds of the former La Noria Hacienda, with some parts a construction dating from the 17th century. The former hacienda chapel, now used as exhibition space, is even older. The station is also a principle stop for students on their way to the UNAM Faculty of Art and Design. It’s a bit further down the Camino a San Pablo which ultimately leads to the Barrio San Pablo, part of Santiago Tepalcatlalpan.