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Chapultepec, a Sacred Place

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Chapultepec, a Sacred Place Voices of Mexico /July • September, 1995 77 1 ! Chapultepec, a sacred :* I place EliP~1 lll:~1 Cincako was a ven, pleasant and restful Spanish as ojos de agua —"eyes of Chichimecs, Tepanecs, Mexicas ri place, where men lived forever, without water") were related to the local and Aztecs struggled at various times dying. It was the place of clear, crystalline peoples' gods, who were appeased for the right to inhabit this region, waters, of great fertility, of every kind of by offerings and sacrifices. All this which was also rich in a variety of victual and the freshness of roses beauty was complemented by the edible fauna, such as rabbits and and flowers. stony hill which could be seen from hares, deer and grasshoppers.' a distance, and which served the Fray Diego Durán. area's inhabitants as a perfect look- 1 Grasshoppers (chapulines), often served incaico was the name of the out for defending their home from with chile and lime, are still a delicacy in C place the first Toltecs possible invasions. many parts of Mexico. (Editor's note.) sought to settle in. They were looking for a place with caves where they could take refuge and feel protected, as in the maternal womb, with springs and trees which would provide them with food. So when they found Chapultepec they believed it was the Eden they were seeking. From that time on Chapultepec was regarded as sacred by all the pre-Hispanic tribes that lived there. Chapultepec, Chapoltepec or Chapultepeque are variations on the Náhuatl terco derived from the roots chapul(in) —grasshopper— and tepe(d) —hill or mountain. Thus the woods with their little hill are still known by the first name it was given: "on the hill of the grasshopper." Tall ahuehuete trees with an abundance of leaves provided shade in some of the wooded areas, giving them the air of an enchanted forest according to descriptions in the ancient codices. Lakes extended throughout the woods, feeding the thirsty ahuehuetes; to cleanse themselves of sins and illnesses, local inhabitants would bathe in the springs that arose from the depths of the earth. Fray Bernardino de Sahagún wrote that these springs (known in Western faqade of Chapultepec Castle. 78 V oices of Mexico /July • September, 1995 Eduardo Pingret, San Miguel Chapultepec, 1851. With the arrival of the Mexicas, Cortés, the wooded zone summed up that it was the sign the first Toltecs the forest reached its apogee in the his personal desire to take over sought for identifying their place of pre-Hispanic period. They carried out property to which Indians laid claim. origin. For some time this was the the first known construction project in When the United States army invaded location of an elevator that rose to that area: the teocalli, a temple which Mexico in 1847, it chose to seize the Castle. crowned the top of Chapultepec hill. It Chapultepec Castle, which represented Reaching the peak of this peculiar fulfilled the functions of both shrine the key to Mexico, rather than the hill —the vantage point from which and fortress. National Palace. For the Hapsburg Huitzilíhuitl, Netzahualcóyotl and In addition to the teocalli there Emperor Maximilian, the forest and its Moctezuma admired Tenochtitlán as was an observatory or solar meridian castle were a heartening replacement well as the Popocatépetl and on top of the hill. Antonio de León y for his abandoned Castle of Miramar Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes— one Gamo discovered some ruins which in Trieste, and they may have been the encounters the Castle. Today visitors could still be found in the late 18th first things that induced him and his look out on the panorama of the century. The most lasting and wife Carlota to live in the New World. planet's most populated city. "practica]" constructions were the The Castle's majestic salons, pools and aqueducts built by the The Castle bedrooms and marble staircases, Mexicas after they went to live in the In order to reach Chapultepec Castle, walls and pillars, together with floating city in the middle of the lake. visitors climb a curved road. At the decorations brought from around the It was from Chapultepec that beginning of this road is the fabulous world, bear witness to Mexico's Emperor Moctezuma governed the grotto which gave rise to innumerable history. Looking back at that history great city of Tenochtitlán. For Hernán legends, the best-known of which is today, we see this edifice as the result V oices of Mexico /July • September, 1995 79 of the plans, desires, envies and the viceroyalty of Luis de Velasco, After then, up to the Insurgency dreams of kings, viceroys, given their excessive cost; this led to war, the Chapultepec Castle revolutionaries and presidenta. the park being closed for a long time. "remained abandoned like an eagle's Hernán Cortés ordered the When Don Matías de Gálvez nest on a mountain peak. People said construction of a grand terrace as arrived in Mexico to take over the post that the spirit of Count Gálvez lived well as a gunpowder warehouse, of viceroy, one of his biggest dreams there on the heights."2 the only way he saw to use this was to build a casa de descanso, but The Castle was completed in 1842 area given the Spanish crown's he died before he could see it and made into the headquarters of the refusal to grant it to him as a place constructed. His son, Don Bernardo, Military College. In 1847 it suffered of residence; he also ordered that continued the project. the second of two explosions: the first both the hill and the surrounding Master architects Don Josef had occurred at the end of the 18th woods continue to be a place for Joachim García de Torres and Don century when the gunpowder public recreation. Francisco Antonio Guerrero y Torres warehouse blew up, and the second With the arrival of the various made the original plans, and with the resulted from bombardment by U.S. viceroys in New Spain (as Mexico death of Viceroy Gálvez Don army troops. was then known), Chapultepec forest Manuel Agustín Mascaró drew up The building that bore the greatest became an exclusive area for the new ones. The work lasted two resemblance to today's edifice was the diversion of the new settlers, who years, two months and eight days, product of reconstruction and turned it into a European-style park. from August 16, 1785 to October 24, remodeling of the abandoned Castle, During that period a small casa de 1787, but the younger Gálvez was 2 Miguel Angel Fernández, Chapultepec, descanso (weekend or leisure-time also unable to witness the conclusion historia y presencia (Past and Present of residence) was built, in which soirées of what already began to be called Chapultepec). Mexico City, private edition of such magnitude were held that the the Castle: he died a year before published by Smurfit Cartón y Papel de Spanish crown forbade them during its completion. México, 1988, p. 70. Chapultepec, oil painting by unknown author, ca. 1900. 80 Voices o Mexico /July • September, 1995 as well as the beautification of the Chapultepec Castle has become one of woods, ordered with great enthusiasm the locations with the largest number by Emperor Maximilian, who under of visitors in Mexico. In the meantime the reign of Napoleon III arrived to other important museums have been rule Mexico in 1862. built in the park, covering themes Maximilian decreed the related to history, nature, science, construction of Emperor Road, uniting technology and several fields of art. Chapultepec with the city center, so he There are seven in all, including the could travel to the National Palace National Museum of Anthropology, each day; this road followed the trail which features the world's most that had been blazed back in the days complete exhibition on pre-Hispanic of Tenochtitlán. Under the regime of Mexican culture —from the traces of the Porfirio Díaz it became the present- first inhabitants through the maces and day Paseo de la Reforma. When shields used against the Spanish Maximilian's empire was overthrown conquerors. On its upper level and in its Malachite room. by Benito Juárez, the Castle was once storerooms, the museum also houses an again left in oblivion. impressive ethnographic collection. It is Chapultepec Park offers visitors a The lands of Chapultepec reached home to the image of the Aztec goddess wide variety of activities, in the realm their greatest splendor during the Coatlicue, symbol of the earth as not only of culture but of recreation as "Belle Époque" of Don Porfirio. But creation and destruction, mother of well. Among its features are the Zoo, in 1939, by decree of General Lázaro women and men, as well as the Sun recently remodeled to provide greater Cárdenas, the building whose Stone, better known as the Aztec freedom and comfort for the animals, construction had been ordered by Calendar. An interesting sidelight is that and the National Auditorium, which is Count Gálvez carne under the several of the pieces were discovered considered the second best show jurisdiction of the National Institute of nearby, in the pools of Chapultepec. center in the world. Anthropology and History. Since that Also located in the park are the With the enormous time the presidential residence has Modem Art, Rufino Tamayo, Caracol transformation undergone by this been at Los Pinos, which is also (or history gallery), Natural Science ecosystem, the "lungs" of the located within Chapultepec Park. and Technological museums; the most metropolis are more endangered than recent addition is Papalote (Kite), the ever as a result of high levels of M u se u ms Children's Museum.
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