Parque Lázaro Cárdenas, Col. Doctores

The Parque Lázaro Cárdenas is best known for the monument to President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río pictured above. He stands along Eje Central, also named for him, greeting passersby with a pose that provokes a fair number of questions. The 10-meter tall work was created by sculptor Humberto Peraza y Ojeda and dedicated in 1982.

The plaza is the former site of the old Hidalgo tianguis. Today, that’s the Mercado Hidalgo and it’s just a few blocks to the south. The market is one of the few reminders that the Colonia Doctores used to be called Colonia Hidalgo until it was changed to honor medical personnel in the mid-19th century.

Likewise, the main drag through the neighborhood is the Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas, itself renamed in the 1970s. Today the busy avenue frequently urges traffic right past. But the imposing monument remains one of the most important reminders of the President himself. His presidential home is a museum within the Los Pinos Cultural Complex. That’s sandwiched between Sections One and Two of Chapultepec Park.

Here in Colonia Doctores one gets a better idea of the former president’s base of support. Always a little rough and tumble, today, it’s one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the center city.