The Palace of Mining, also Palace of Mines, ( es, Palacio de MinerÃa) is a building in
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 ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, considered to be a fine example of
Neoclassical architecture in the Americas. It was designed and built between 1797 and 1813 by Valencian Spanish sculptor and architect
Manuel Tolsá
Manuel Vicente Tolsá Sarrión (Enguera, Valencia (autonomous community), Valencia, Spain, May 4, 1757 – Mexico City, December 24, 1816) was a prolific Neoclassicism, Neoclassical architect and sculptor in Spain and Mexico. He served as the f ...
. It was built to house the Royal School of Mines and Mining of the Royal Court at the request of its director,
Fausto Elhuyar
Fausto de Elhuyar (11 October 1755 – 6 February 1833) was a Spanish chemist, and the first to isolate tungsten with his brother Juan José Elhuyar in 1783. He was in charge, under a King of Spain commission, of organizing the School of Mines i ...
, a scientifically-trained mineralogist. Later it housed other institutions such as the National University, the School of Engineering, College of Mines and the Physics Institute of the
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
.
Today it is a museum that belongs to the Faculty of Engineering of the
UNAM
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
.
The building is located on Tacuba Street opposite the Plaza Manuel Tolsá and the equestrian statue (Carlos IV of Spain) also sculpted by Tolsá.
History
The history of the Palace of Mines dates back to 1793 when the Royal College of Mines of
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
acquired the land where the building now stands with the help of Viceroy Juan Vicente de Güemes, Second Count of Revillagigedo who commissioned the design and construction to the prominent architect Manuel Tolsá, who was also the sculptor of the equestrian sculpture of
Charles IV, known as "El Caballito" as well as the final stage of construction of the
Metropolitan Cathedral in
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 ...
. The Mining Palace was one of the first buildings designed for teaching engineering and metallurgy, all the more important as mining was the main economic activity of New Spain and one of the main sources of riches of the Spanish Empire. The Mining Palace therefore reflected in its sober and elegant architecturally maintained proportions, the Enlightenment ideal of reason and order to attain knowledge and how that knowledge could positively transform reality through scientific exploitation of mineral resources, thus becoming one of the first institutions for technological development in the Americas.
After military revolts that occurred during the first half of the nineteenth century and after a partial reconstruction by architect Antonio Villard, without altering the original design of Manuel Tolsá, the Mining Palace was closed and was even considered for use as the imperial palace of
Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I (german: Ferdinand Maximilian Josef Maria von Habsburg-Lothringen, link=no, es, Fernando Maximiliano José MarÃa de Habsburgo-Lorena, link=no; 6 July 1832 – 19 June 1867) was an Austrian archduke who reigned as the only Emperor ...
before he chose the
Castle of Chapultepec
Chapultepec Castle ( es, Castillo de Chapultepec) is located on top of Chapultepec Hill in Mexico City's Chapultepec park. The name ''Chapultepec'' is the Nahuatl word ''chapoltepēc'' which means "on the hill of the grasshopper". The castle has ...
as his residence. Years later, the Palace of Mining had various uses until in 1867 when it regained its original purpose of housing the Special School Engineers and it remained as such for almost a hundred years before it was transferred in 1954 to the building of the current Faculty of Engineering,
UNAM
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
, Ciudad Universitaria.
Inside this magnificent building are the Courtyard, the Lecture Hall, the former chapel of the Virgin of Guadalupe and its lavish steps, immortalized by various artists and writers throughout history.
Currently the Palace of Mining is part of the heritage of the
UNAM
The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...
, and in it are held various conferences, courses, and events including the International Book Fair of the Mining Palace, one of the more significant literary events in the city, wherein editorial conferences of publishers from the Spanish-speaking world are held. It also houses the Museo Manuel Tolsá, the Historical Heritage, the Center for Information and Documentation "Bruno Mascanzoni" as well as various trade associations, including the Society of Alumni of the Faculty of Engineering (SEFI), the College of Petroleum Engineers of Mexico and the Mexican Academy of Engineering.
See also
*
List of colonial non-religious buildings in Mexico City
This is a list of the preserved important Colonial government and civil buildings in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico.
Mexico City was traditionally known as La Ciudad de los Palacios ("the City of the Palaces"), a nickname attributed to Baron ...
References
External links
*â
Official Palace of Mines website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palacio de Mineria
Museums in Mexico City
Historic center of Mexico City
Buildings and structures in Mexico City
National Autonomous University of Mexico
Spanish Colonial architecture in Mexico
Buildings and structures completed in 1813