Plaza de las Tres Culturas explained

The Plaza de las Tres Culturas ("The Three Cultures square") is the main square within the Tlatelolco neighborhood of Mexico City. The name "Three Cultures" is in recognition of the three periods of Mexican history reflected by buildings in the square: pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial, and the independent nation. The square, designed by Mexican architect and urbanist Mario Pani, was completed in 1966.^{[1] [2]} The square contains the archaeological site of the city-state of Tlatelolco and is flanked by the oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas called the College of Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco^[3] (built in 1536 by friar Juan de Torquemada^{[4] [5]}) and by a massive housing complex built in 1964.

The former headquarters of the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (foreign ministry) also stands on the southern edge of the square. This headquarters now houses a memorial museum called "Memorial 68", opened by UNAM in October 2007,^[6] to remember the 1968 Mexican student demonstrations and the Tlatelolco Massacre victims and survivors.^[5] On the south side of the Plaza stands a large stone memorial erected on October 2, 1993, the 25th anniversary of the massacre, in memory of the hundreds killed.^[7]

See also

• Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco
• Spanish Wikipedia: Memorial del 68− — Google translation−

References

1. Book: Telling Ruins in Latin America. limited. 2009. Macmillan. 978-0-230-60522-0. 108–111. Michael J. Lazzara. Vicky Unruh .
2. Web site: Plaza of Three Cultures, Much Pain. Theis. Klaus. 2 October 2010.
3. Book: The first college in America: Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco.. Washington DC. 1936. Steck. Francis Borgia. Achievement and influence of Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco .
4. Web site: Plaza de las Tres Culturas. Frommers. April 27, 2019.

   for the role of Torquemada, see his Monarquía indiana, Lib. XVII, cap. 5

5. Web site: Plaza de las Tres Culturas. DeLange. George & Audrey. 2 October 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100926114345/http://www.delange.org/ThreeCultures/ThreeCultures.htm. September 26, 2010. dead.
6. Web site: Arroyo. Sergio Raúl. Mexico:The Power of Memory. Bulletin Supplement 6 (2009). German Historical Institute. 2 October 2010. 53. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110718202318/http://www.ghi-dc.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1041%3Abulletin-supplement-6-2009&catid=198%3Abulletin-supplements&Itemid=932. 18 July 2011.
   Arroyo is the Director of CCUT, which houses the museum.
7. Web site: The Dead of Tlatelolco. Doyle. Kate. George Washington University. National Security Archive. April 27, 2019.