At the far end of Alameda Park is the Palacio de Bellas Artes, my favorite building in this most architecture-rich of cities. With its stunning combination of white-marble, Arte Deco and Art Nouveau elements, the Palacio indeed would rank high on any list of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Happily for us it was only a couple of blocks from our hotel.
Alas it was summer season and not a lot going on in the way of performances so we didn’t actually get a chance to go into the theatre. Next time. But there were still plenty of riches to savor, not the least being the murals which adorn the second and third floors, the most memorable of all being Diego Rivera’s El Hombre en El Cruce de Caminos (Man at the Crossroads).
The Palacio is both an opera house and museum, and there are lots of rooms and sections with exhibits and displays. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon an exhibit in the first floor east wing which covered the Palacio’s early years. The various program booklets, press clippings, posters, promotional materials, magazine articles, and glamour photos were a veritable nirvana for performing arts memorabilia buffs.
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| Program booklet article on a rising star named Maria Callas. |
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