When your going on holiday it's not the first thing you think about: Visiting a university. But you should reconsider... Take some time and take a walk on the grounds of UNAM.
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico and one of the top universities in the world. But the most important part: UNAM's campus is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was designed by some of Mexico's best-known architects of the 20th century. Murals in the main campus were painted by some of the most recognized artists in Mexican history, such as Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros.
Our favorite there was the Central Library. The building is covered with the mural Historical Representation of Culture, created by the Mexican artist Juan O'Gorman. His unique masterpiece has become the most iconic building from the UNAM and from Mexican culture. The north wall shows the Pre-Hispanic past and the south wall the Colonial past.
Besides the library, there is also a sculpture park that you can visit. We can't say much about this, since we arrived to late at UNAM and had to go back to the center to go to Lucha Libre (that we then missed anyway...) This is the info of the CDMX site itself: A fascinating space located inside the ecological reserve of the Ciudad Universitaria. It comprises a walk that integrates art and ecology. The center is a tezontle (volcanic rock) ring with black lava soil. Metal sculptures that contrast sharply with the landscape emerge from the scree.It aims to represent the cosmos with reference to the pre-Hispanic culture, so the figures were created by seven artists belonging to the movement of Aesthetic Geometric Art.Some of the works are: Las serpientes del Pedregal and Ocho conejos, by Federico Silva; Ave dos, by Hersúa; Coatl, by Helen Escobedo; Colotl, by Sebastian; Corona del Pedregal, by Mathias Goeritz, and Variante de la llave de Kepler, by Manuel Felguérez.
If you had the chance to go and see it, make sure to tell us if it is worth it to go back one day!
Positive note over the entire university area: there are free buses that bring you around campus. Easy and cheap, we like it!
If you're there and you have the time for it, give it a try.
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