Metro Iztacalco

Metro Iztacalco is a Line 8 station just east of the traditional center of Iztacalco. It’s a terrific walking neighborhood of old, colonial-era cobblestone streets, shops, and a little mystery.

• The station logo is a depiction of the San Matías Church, the first temple of its kind in the neighborhood. Few realize today that traditional old Iztacalco was a salt producing island in Lake Texcoco. The Nahuatl name means “house of salt,” or “place where salt is produced.”

By the time the Franciscans arrived, the island was likely already but a highlands over a diminished salt flats area. The Barrio la Asunción dates from just shortly after this time although the island had likely been occupied long before. The traditional founding date is 1309.

Today’s Metro Iztacalco sees about 21,000 passengers on regular weekdays. The station serves not just the Centro, but multiple neighborhoods to the east. Most prominent are the Los Picos neighborhoods and Juventino Rosas. The Metro station is just a block south of the whimsical Mercado Los Picos, directly across from the Oriente 116 Metrobús station (Line 5). International visitors on their way into the Centro can arrive here or via Metro Coyuya. Most walking tours will include all seven traditional Barrios of ancient Iztacalco.