The Legislative Palace of San Lázaro (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Palacio Legislativo de San Lázaro'') is the main seat of the

legislative power A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers o ...

of the

Mexican government The Federal government of Mexico (alternately known as the Government of the Republic or ' or ') is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republ ...

, being the permanent meeting place of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, as well as the seat of the whole ''

Congress of the Union The Congress of the Union (, ), formally known as the General Congress of the United Mexican States (''Congreso General de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos''), is the legislature of the federal government of Mexico. It consists of two chambers: t ...

'', when the Chamber of Deputies convenes in conjunction with the Senate of the Republic. Built in the late 20th century after a 1977 political reform, the complex is located in

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about a mile east of the

Zócalo Zócalo () is the common name of the town square, main square in central Mexico City. Prior to the European colonization of the Americas, colonial period, it was the main ceremonial center in the Aztecs, Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The plaza us ...

central square, in the Venustiano Carranza borough, next to the Palace of Federal Justice. The complex draws its name from its location, as the San Lázaro Railway Station was the former occupant of the grounds where the palace was built.

History

After the Mexican political reform of 1977, the number of deputies of the Chamber passed from 186 to 400, and thus, it was impossible for them to convene in the former meeting place, then known as the Legislative Palace of Donceles, which is now occupied by the

Legislative Assembly of the Federal District The Congress of Mexico City () is the legislative branch of the government of Mexico City. Between 1988 and 1997, it was known as the Assembly of Representatives of the Federal District (). Between 1997 and 2018, it was styled the Legislative ...

. Thereupon, construction on a new seat of the Legislative began as a part of a plan of urban restructuring of the sector where the San Lázaro Station was located, on the limit of the

Venustiano Carranza José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920), known as Venustiano Carranza, was a Mexican land owner and politician who served as President of Mexico from 1917 until his assassination in 1920, during the Mexican Re ...

and

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

boroughs. Also on the property was built a new Palace of Federal Justice for the functions of the

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

branch of the government. The project, which was promoted by former president

José López Portillo José Guillermo Abel López Portillo y Pacheco (; 16 June 1920 – 17 February 2004) was a Mexican writer, lawyer, and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 58th president of Mexico from 1976 ...

, was a faction of a massive development and public works program of the government, resulting from a Mexican petroleum boom. Construction began in September 1979, following the plans of

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Pedro Ramírez Vázquez (who at the time served as Secretary of Settlement and Public Works), Jorge Campuzano, and David Suárez. The grounds were formally inaugurated on 1 September 1981 as a part of the 5th Government Report (the equivalent of the

State of the Union Address The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of most calendar years on the current condit ...

in Mexico) of López Portillo, and officially at the installation of the deputies and senators of the LI Legislature of the Congress of the Union. The building was severely damaged after a fire in 1989, and President of Mexico

Carlos Salinas de Gortari Carlos Salinas de Gortari (; born 3 April 1948) is a Mexicans, Mexican economist, historían and former politician who served as the 60th president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Considered the frontman of Mexican Neoliberalism by formulating, p ...

had it restored by Mexican architect Manuel de Santiago-de Borbón González Bravo, a renowned member of the

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. On September 13, 2023, a

public hearing In law, a hearing is the formal examination of a case (civil or criminal) before a judge. It is a proceeding before a court or other decision-making body or officer, such as a government agency or a legislative committee. Description A hearing ...

presided over by prominent Mexican journalist and

ufologist Ufology, sometimes written UFOlogy ( or ), is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary claims, extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial hypothesis, extrate ...

Jaime Maussan José Jaime Maussan Flota (born 31 May 1953) is a Mexican journalist, television personality, and ufologist. He has promoted claims of supposed alien remains that have turned out to be hoaxes. Career Since 1970 he has been a reporter at vari ...

was held in the palace. During the hearing, what were alleged to be two extraterrestrial corpses from

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

were unveiled, with Maussan claiming support from Mexican authorities and the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...

(UNAM). The event generated significant interest; however, the

Mexican Congress The Congress of the Union (, ), formally known as the General Congress of the United Mexican States (''Congreso General de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos''), is the legislature of the federal government of Mexico. It consists of two chambers: t ...

did not conclusively affirm Maussan's claims. Furthermore, Julieta Fierro, physics researcher at UNAM, also stated that the university never endorsed Maussan's claims about the corpses and that his data "made no sense." UNAM further republished their September 2017 statement specifying that they did not make any conclusion as to the origins of a sample sent to them for Carbon 14 testing and that no other kind of testing was performed by them. ''

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'' reported that "mummies" presented by Maussan are believed to be "an elaborate hoax made of human and animal bones".

Architecture and restoration

The main facade of the building, which is located on ''Congreso de la Unión'' Avenue, is made up of three sections: the two ends are lined with red

tezontle Tezontle () is a porous, highly oxidized, volcanic rock used extensively in construction in Mexico. It is usually reddish in color due to iron oxide. Tezontle is a well-cemented, agglomeritic and scoriaceous rock. Uses Construction Tezontle can ...

and the central one with white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

, forming a wide access plaza between them. Above the main door there is a sculptural set in bas-relief, on a green oxidized bronze plate made by artist

José Chávez Morado José Chávez Morado (4 January 1909 – 1 December 2002) was a Mexican artist who was associated with the Mexican muralism movement of the 20th century. His generation followed that of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siq ...

, giving the total of the set the three colors of the

Flag of Mexico The national flag, national flag of Mexico () is a vertical Tricolour (flag), tricolor of green, white, and red with Coat of arms of Mexico, the national coat of arms charge (heraldry), charged in the center of the white stripe. While the meani ...

. The central motif of the sculptural ensemble is the national coat of arms, surrounded by a series of moving flags symbolizing the plurality of thoughts; faces emerge from the banners that represent the popular movements that Mexico will see. A huge feathered serpent is the symbol of traditional culture; Above it, virgules emerge that when ascending are joined with several hands, and each of these, accompanied by a different allegory, symbolizes the political, economic and social diversity of contemporary Mexico. The set is crowned by a large sun with the inscription Mexican Political Constitution. On each side, as background elements, there are representations of urban and rural cultures.

Session room

From the main door there is a direct entrance to a hall, where there are a series of murals made by muralist Adolfo Mexiac, where he narrates the history of three of the

Constitutions A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

that Mexico has had, those of

1824 Events January–March * January 1 – John Stuart Mill begins publication of The Westminster Review. The first article is by William Johnson Fox * January 8 – After much controversy, Michael Faraday is finally elected as a member of th ...

1857 Events January–March * January 1 – The biggest Estonian newspaper, '' Postimees'', is established by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. * January 7 – The partly French-owned London General Omnibus Company begins operating. * Ja ...

and

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

. From the lobby there is an entrance to the Session Room, where the Chamber or the General Congress meets to meet, with a capacity for two thousand people, taking into account the galleries for special guests. In the session room, the 500 deputies and the 128 senators can meet together and is made up of a wide hemicycle that descends towards the center in a staggered manner. The side walls of the room are lined with wood, while the front is lined with the same red tezontle as the façade. On this wall, at the opposite end of the entrance to the hall, is the main visual hallmark of the enclosure: the Wall of Honor.

Wall of Honor

The Wall of Honor is a set of surfaces on which the names of national heroes, institutions or individuals recognized for their merits to the country have been inscribed in gilt bronze letters, colloquially called "gold letters", with the aim of rendering them tribute and perpetuate their names in historical memory. The wall is formed primarily by a quarry surface placed at the upper end of the front wall, next to the ceiling, and in huge gilded bronze letters is a famous phrase of President

Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican politician, military commander, and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. A Zapotec peoples, Zapotec, he w ...

: It is accompanied by the following names: *''

Heroico Colegio Militar The Heroic Military College (officially in ) is the major military educational institution in Mexico. It was founded in 1823 and located in the former Palace of the Inquisition in Mexico City. Initially designated as the Cadet Academy, it was r ...

'' *'' Constituyentes de 1917'' *'' A los Defensores de Veracruz de 1914'' *'' Heroica Escuela Naval Militar'' * Antonia Nava *

Leona Vicario María de la Soledad Leona Camila Vicario Fernández de San Salvador, best known as Leona Vicario (April 10, 1789 – August 21, 1842), was one of the most prominent figures of the Mexican War of Independence. She was dedicated to informin ...

Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez María Josefa Crescencia Ortiz Téllez–Girón, popularly known as Doña Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez or ''La Corregidora'' (8 September 1768 – 2 March 1829) was an insurgent and supporter of the Mexican War of Independence, which fought for ...

* Mariana R. del Toro de Lazarín * Carmen Serdán Under this phrase, there are five quarry walls, placed just behind the chamber of the Chamber, from where the Board of Directors presides over the sessions, of these walls the central one is wide and the other four are thin, two placed on each side of the center. Two large

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are placed on the central wall, one from left to right and the other from right to left, which are linked in the center with a tricolor bow, placed just below the quarry sculptural representation of the national coat of arms. At the top of this wall are the names of the last Aztec emperor,

, of the Tetzcocan Tlatoani Nezahualcoyotl and another famous phrase, this time by the insurgent

Vicente Guerrero Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña (; baptized 10 August 1782 – 14 February 1831) was a Mexican military officer from 1810–1821 and a statesman who became the nation's second president in 1829. He was one of the leading generals who fought ag ...

: It then features a large number of other names, the latest one having been added in 2018, being that of the

Mexican Movement of 1968 The Mexican Movement of 1968, also known as the Mexican Student Movement (''Movimiento Estudiantil'') was a social movement composed of a broad coalition of students from Mexico's leading universities that garnered widespread public support fo ...

Tribune

Under the Wall of Honor is the tribune of the Chamber, a space divided into two levels, at the top of which is the seat from which the Deputy President of the Chamber presides over the sessions of the Chamber or the General Congress, accompanied by the vice presidents of the Board of Directors. In sessions of the General Congress, the President of the Senate of the Republic is also placed in this rostrum and in special sessions also the President of the Republic (outgoing and incoming in case of the ceremony of transmission of the Executive Power) and the President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation; in addition to foreign heads of state invited on the occasion of a special session. On the lower level are the Secretaries of the Board of Directors and there is also the platform from which the deputies speak in the sessions.

References