Centro Cultural Gonzalez Gallo, Chapala. (Former Railroad Station). Architect: Guillermo de Alba. Photo: Tony Burton, 2020.

Chapala’s rich architectural heritage: here today, gone tomorrow?

The small lakeside town of Chapala in Jalisco had more buildings designed by notable architects in the first half of the twentieth century than any other location of its size in Mexico, perhaps even in North America. In 1900, Chapala was little more than an overgrown fishing village with one major hotel and 1753 residents. […]

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Mural in Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, México. April 2024. Photo: Yareli Jáidar Benavides.

Modern street art in Mexico City: concrete walls transformed into vivid social statements

Mexico City has some of the best street/urban art murals in the world, but almost all the attention in the press is focused on work done in the center of the city. In reality, much of the best work is being done on the east side of the Mexico City Metro Area (MCMA). The muralism […]

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Did you know? Mexico has over thirty UNESCO-designated biosphere reserves

A surprising percentage of Mexico’s land area is protected in one form or another. A very large number of sites of archaeological or historical importance are managed by the National Institute of Anthropology and History, more commonly known by its acronym INAH. In theory, all buildings more than 100 years old have some degree of […]

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El Carmen de Tenancingo

Monastic getaway from Mexico City: El Carmen de Tenancingo

Let’s face it. Escaping Mexico City can be a great thing. Now more than ever. So much so that one would think that this unrestrained monster we call the Federal District, and the paranoia revolving around it, is a modern phenomenon. Time to think again. In the early 1700s a century-old community of monks, dwelling […]

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Did You Know? Different traffic whistles in Mexico mean different things

Mayhem prevails in many Mexican cities during rush hours. The traffic in some big cities rarely seems to let up, or slow down, as vehicles jockey for the best position before becoming ensnarled in a tangled web of blocked intersections and jam-packed avenues. Even thirty years ago, a standing joke (pun intended) in Mexico City […]

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Monarch butterflies in a Michoacan sanctuary © Tony Burton, 1997

Migration Minded: The Monarch Butterfly

Mexico experiences one of nature’s loveliest gifts each winter when billions of Monarch butterflies descend on the warm forests of the country’s central highlands. The Monarch is known for its long migrations and this annual journey covers some 2,500 miles-from the chilly regions of Canada and the northeastern United States to the mountains of Michoacán. […]

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