Colonia Verónica Anzures is a colonia of

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

located in the

Miguel Hidalgo Don Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla y Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor (8 May 1753 – 30 July 1811), more commonly known as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo (), was a Catholic priest, leader of the Mexican Wa ...

borough. The neighborhood is a residential area but it also houses some office buildings, most importantly the

Torre Ejecutiva Pemex The Pemex Executive Tower ( es, Torre Ejecutiva Pemex) is a skyscraper in Mexico City. The international style tower was built between 1979 and 1984. Since the building's opening, it has been occupied by state-owned Pemex, one of the largest p ...

Location

The neighborhood is bordered by: *Av. Marina Nacional to the northeast, across which is Colonia Tlaxpana and Colonia Anáhuac *Bahía de San Hipólito street on the northwest, across which is Colonia Anáhuac *Av. Ejército Nacional on the south, across which is

Colonia Anzures Colonia may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Colonia (music group), a Croatian dance music group * ''Colonia'' (Autopsia album), 2002 * ''Colonia'' (A Camp album), 2009 * ''Colonia'' (film), a 2015 historical romantic thriller Places *Colonia ...

* Circuito Interior Melchor Ocampo on the east, across which is

Colonia Cuauhtémoc Colonia may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Colonia (music group), a Croatian dance music group * ''Colonia'' (Autopsia album), 2002 * ''Colonia'' (A Camp album), 2009 * ''Colonia'' (film), a 2015 historical romantic thriller Places * Coloni ...

in the

Cuauhtémoc Cuauhtémoc (, ), also known as Cuauhtemotzín, Guatimozín, or Guatémoc, was the Aztec ruler (''tlatoani'') of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, making him the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means "one who has descended like an eagle" ...

borough

History

During the late years of the 1800s,

Chapultepec Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest city parks in Mexico, measuring in total just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). Centered on a rock formation called Chapultep ...

was still surrounded by

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

es, such as the Anzures, Polanco and La Teja ranches and the La Condesa and Los Morales

hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...

s. In 1920, the owner of the Los Morales hacienda, Eduardo Cuevas Rubio, dies, leaving in his testament instructions for the partition of the hacienda in five sections. Sections I and II, then the closest to the center of Mexico City, became the colonia Verónica Anzures. An area that, at the time, was known only as La Verónica, due to the proximity of the Calzada de La Verónica (today Circuito Interior Melchor Ocampo). In the 1950s, Verónica Anzures started to develop as a residential zone, described by anthropologist Luis Barjau as "an urban zone in the

Federal District A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they e ...

of middle-class pretentious residents, who wanted to emulate the then sumptuous Polanco, but smaller".

Description

Verónica Anzures has, mainly, residential buildings of

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

and

colonial revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

styles. The colonia also houses several commercial buildings,

, headquarters of state-owned

Pemex Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexican state-owned petroleum company managed and operated by the Mexican government. It was formed in 1938 by nationalization and expr ...

, one of the largest petroleum companies in the world and shopping center

Plaza de las Estrellas Plaza de las Estrellas is a shopping center located in the northwest part of central Mexico City, inside a triangle created by the crossing of three major thoroughfares: Circuito Interior, Av. Marina Nacional, and Eje 2 Bahía de la Ascención, ...

, being the two most important. From the first decade of the 21st century, the neighborhood has experienced a process of

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

, resulting in the

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of old buildings and the construction of new big residential buildings.

References

{{Mexico City neighborhoods Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City Neighborhoods in Mexico City Tenochtitlan