Metro Iztapalapa

Metro Iztapalapa is the main station for the old center of Iztapalapa. This is still remembered for its original eight barrios which center around the cathedral, but date from ancient times. They’re all within walking distance of the station.

Station logo symbolizes the Ceremony of the New Fire. It’s explored in great deal in the Museo del Fuego Nuevo atop the Cerrro de la Estrella. The ceremony has also come to symbolize the entire alcaldía.

The station is famously home to a giant mural by artist, Janitzio Escalera Coria. “Cosmos o la historia del principio,” (Cosmos or the history of the beginning). The work was installed in November of 1996 and is made from polychrome ceramic.

The work began with a commission from the Universidad Autónoma de Metropolitana (UAM), for the Iztapalapa campus. UAM invited him to donate the same mural to the Metro, but the artist created another to be installed there. The work was completed in the UAM Xochimilco workshop.

The Metro Iztapalapa station is probably most important to the government buildings that are just northeast of the station. For international visitors, it’s a station highly convenient to the many ancient and small neighborhoods in the immediate area.