Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City stands on the Plaza de la Constitución in the historic center of the capital. Mexico’s federal Cultural Information System records construction beginning in 1563 and documents a building history that extended across generations, producing a complex mixture of architectural styles.

Herrerian planning, Baroque and Churrigueresque decoration, and later Neoclassical interventions all form part of the cathedral seen today. Its art, chapels, organs, altars and liturgical furnishings make it one of the country’s most important ensembles of Catholic religious heritage. The cathedral is dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and functions as an active metropolitan seat of the Catholic Church.

Its sacred importance lies in regular liturgy, diocesan ceremonies, devotional chapels and its central place in the religious history of New Spain and modern Mexico. It is also part of the urban landscape protected through the UNESCO World Heritage inscription of the Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco; that status should not be misrepresented as a separate UNESCO inscription for the cathedral itself.

Visitors are entering a functioning cathedral, so sightseeing should yield to Mass, prayer, restricted chapels and conservation requirements when these are in effect.