The courtyard of Mexico City's National Palace

Three stories of stone arched walkways surround a square. Several pedestrians are waling in the square.The Zócalo is Mexico City's central plaza. Its official name is the Plaza de la Constitución, but everyone calls it the Zócalo. The square plaza was also the center of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlán. In fact, the Spanish Conquistadors built the city of Mexico City on top of the ruins of the defeated Aztec city. Even today Aztec ruins and artifacts continue to be uncovered. The Zócalo is the home of Mexico City's most historical and important colonial buildings. The National Palace, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and the Supreme Court of Justice all surround the Zócalo.Construction of the National Palace began soon after the conquest of Mexico, but the Palace was not completed 1692. While the Palace is no longer the home of the President, it still is the seat of executive power for the entire country. The Palace is also the site of Diego Rivera's expansive nationalist murals, painted in the early twentieth century.