Coyoacan is one of the neighborhoods with the most traditional flavor in Mexico City and is gathering place for the capital's artists and writers. Its name signifies "Those who have coyotes".
Coyoacan is located to the South, on the perimeter bound by Insurgentes Sur Avenue and Tlalpan Causeway. It's best to tour the area on foot. Your walk can begin in Coyoacan's Zocalo, also known as the Plaza Hidalgo, located between Carrillo Puerto and Caballocalco streets. This place is usually teeming with life , surrounded by restaurants, small cafes and some of the ancients buildings in town. It was built on a plot of lands that formerly belonges to a Franciscan Convent. Here you'll find artisans who display and sell their wares, along with candy stalls and sidewalks artists, mmes and musicians who play for visitors.
To one side of the plaza, you can admire the building that once the home of Cortes, a residence clearly Colonial in its style where, it is said, Cuauhtemoc, - the last Aztec Emperor - was tortured for refusing to revel where Moctezuma's treasure had been buried. Today this building houses Coyoacan's precinct offices.
In front of the House of Cortes is a picturesque kiosk where the Coyoacan Symphony Band plays concerts on Sundays. Also in this plaza is the Temple of San Juan Bautista, a construction dating from 1552, where you can see indigenous carving. Next to it is what remains of the ancient Convent.
You have only to walk across the street to arrive at Centenario Garden, an extension of the festive plaza, which preserves much of its colonial flavor. Here you can get ice cream and sherbet from the famous Siberia ice-cream parlor, and eat at some of the best restaurants in the area.
Just to stroll along some of Coyoacan's street is a pleasant experiences, surrounded by its lovely colonial architecture in an excellent state of preservations. Strolling down Higuera street , near the Zocalo, you'll arrive at Plaza de la Concepción, better known as the plaza of Conchita.
In the center is an 18th century chapel with a beautiful doorway, and nearby is the house where La Malinche, Hernan Cortes mistress, lived. Nearby are some of the experimental theaters which have contributed to Coyoacan's reputation as a focal point for art and culture in the city's capital.
