Catedral de Nuestra Señora de La Asunción

Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral, perched on a hill just a short walk from the Plaza de La Constitución, was the first permanent Catholic church in the Americas. Leaving the southeast corner of the plaza, go through the small square and take the pretty, cobblestone pathway lined by trees that leads steeply uphill to the cathedral. As you walk up the path, look down the hill to your right and you can catch a glimpse of one of Mexico’s oldest bullrings. When you enter the cathedral be sure to look up at the splendid ceiling studded with gilded stars, a Moorish style very popular in Spain at the time of the Conquest. It was here that Cortés had king Xicoténcatl, who had joined forces with him, baptized before he and his Tlaxcalan allies set off to conquer Mexico City. In the cloisters of the church there is a museum of pre-Columbian artifacts.