Toluca is one of those capital cities that is very near Mexico City and due to its location was established as an important economic city as many industries have settled in there and have created a great infrastructure to live and work. Toluca is considered as the biggest manufacture of automobiles since 1968 including Chrysler, BMW, and Mercedes Benz.
Toluca is located in central Mexico, and its capital city of State of Mexico. The State of Mexico surrounds Mexico City on the north, east and west. The State of Mexico has boarders also with the states of Hidalgo and Queretaro to the north; Michoacan to the west; Guerrero, Puebla and Morelos to the south; and Tlaxcala to the east.
Toluca is located 63km (39mi) southwest of Mexico City. The city was founded by Matlatzincas, named by the Aztec in 1473 as Tollocan, and renamed as Toluca de Lerdo on 1861 in honour of President Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada.
Toluca has become one of the most industrialized areas in Mexico because it is located in centre of Mexico and its proximity to Mexico City. Toluca’s climate is the coolest of any large Mexican city due to its altitude of 2,680m (8,790 ft) above sea level with some features of subtropical highland climate. Toluca is known for the especially of fresh green chorizo sausage made with native chili peppers, tomatillo (green Mexican husk tomato), cilantro, and garlic.
This particular trip was designed as day trip. The currency for Mexico is the Mexican peso and it is recommended to exchange at the airport just after landing, as who has time to search for the best rate.
We left Mexico city around 9am as my parents and I were meeting my paternal uncle and his family for breakfast, making this a very long trip without having breakfast but I was happy for meeting my family and enjoying the specialities of the city.
We arrived to Toluca around 11am and we went straight to the restaurant to have barbacoa. Although, it can be pronounce as barbecue, in Mexico it refers to the slow-cooked over oven, or hole dug in the ground, of the whole sheep. This meat is very fatty but delicious and is eaten with soft tortillas accompanied by chopped onions and cilantro (coriander), and different colours salsas.
After an amazing breakfast, we decided to buy some fresh green chorizo as you are only able to find this variety in this city and the flavour is unique.
After our brief grocery shopping, we made our way to city centre as I wanted to take photographs. After parking, we made our way to the Cosmovitral which is an amazing botanical garden around 1pm.
Cosmovitral is named after the stained-glass mural which are set in the building’s huge windows surrounding the building and ceiling. The building is located on the corner of Juarez and Lerdo de Tejada streets in the city centre.
The building was completed in 1910 and assigned as the first permanent market in the city. The building was designed by engineer Manual Arratia in an Art Nouveau style with the upper two thirds and the roof made of metal and glass.
The market was closed in 1975 but later was year the artisan Leopoldo Flores lobbied to make the windows and ceiling as a space of art, and the floorspace into a botanical garden. The new botanical garden with the artwork opened in 1980 but took 10 years to complete the work due to local authorities’ budget problems.
The Cosmovitral was designed by local artisan Leopoldo Flores and it name derives from the amalgam of two Spanish words Cosmos (universe) and vitral (glass). Currently the name defines the entire building and not just the artwork.
The window-mural took three years to install and consists of 71 modules covering 3,200m2. The work uses 75 tons of metal supports, 45 tons of blown glass, and 25 tons of lead for joining about 500,000 glass pieces ranging in size from 15 to 45cm. The theme of the mural’s centres around universal duality and antagonism like life and death, good and evil, day and night.
The botanical garden contains around 500 species of plant from both the State of Mexico and around the world. Currently, the building hosts various arts exhibitions, and workshops.
The reason I decide to make this my main point of visit is that I was collecting photographs of Mexican flora to include on my illustrated poems book, and the stained-glass was an unexpected highlight as they have an overwhelming feeling like when I first viewed the Sistine Chapel.
After two hours of taking photographs of all the flowers of the garden and every glass-stained window, we started exploring the other buildings of the Zocalo (city centre). Our next stop was the main square.
Plaza de los Mártires (the Martyrs Square) is surrounded by the Palace of the State Government and the Justice Palace. The square is named after an event occurred during the Independence War where Spanish royalist forces executed hundred prisoners and buried in a mass grave. Currently, the exact location of the mass grave hosts a monument to father Miguel Hidalgo, father of the Mexican Independence.
After taking some panoramic views of the square, we made our way to the Metropolitan Cathedral.
Catedral de San José de Nazaret (Cathedral of Saint Joseph of Nazareth) is a Roman Catholic cathedral. The building started in 1867 by architect Ramon Rodriguez Arangoiti and finished in 1978 by architect Vicente Mendiola Quezada in a Neoclassical style. The cathedral is located south of the Plaza de los Mártires.
The cathedral was built on site of the old Franciscan convent of Our Lady of the Assumption. The cathedral has a length of 90m, a width of 45m and a height of 67m on the highest dome.
After an hour of taking interior and exterior photographs of the cathedral, we made our way to the local market for some souvenir and sweets shopping.
Los Portales (the Aches shopping centre) represents the social and commercial life of the city. They are built in three sections of arches: the east side has 37 arches and it is called Noviembre, the west side has 39 arches and it is called Reforma; and the south has 44 arches and it is called Franciso I. Madero.
Behind the arches there is a covered walking space which takes you around the stores that are contained within. The shopping centre has a wide variety of shops consisting of local handicrafts, traditional Mexican sweets, and amazing street food.
After visiting every local shop to find that all important local handicrafts and sampling the amazing local sweets. We decided to stop for coffee and some pastries.
After the coffee break, we decided to say our goodbyes and made our way back to Mexico City. However, after a long day of sightseeing and photographing, we stopped halfway to have some dinner as we were getting very hungry. We arrived to Mexico City around 8pm.
Although Toluca is very near to Mexico City, it is not a very popular place for foreign tourist as there are many other cities to visit. However, if you love stain-glassed the Cosmovitral is the best example of its kind in Mexico and it is really worth the trip.
Living in Mexico City, this was a place that I just recently visit and this was because one of my paternal uncle lives there as for me it is also a long trip just for green chorizo. However, the Cosmovitral is an amazing sight and definitely is worth the visit as a day trip.
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