Palace of Iturbide

The Palace of Iturbide is a large palatial residence located at Madero Street 17 in the historic center of Mexico City. Constructed between 1779 and 1785, the building is a prime example of Mexican Baroque architecture. It gained historical prominence when Agustin de Iturbide lived there and accepted the crown of the First Mexican Empire from its central balcony in 1822. Today, the restored structure operates as the Palacio de Cultura Banamex, a museum and cultural institution dedicated to temporary art exhibitions and workshops.

Before the palace existed, the site was granted to Gonzalo Juarez de Cordoba after the Conquest, later hosting a convent for the Sisters of Saint Brigit until they sold the land. Miguel de Berrio y Saldivar, Count of San Mateo Valparaiso and Marquis of Jaral de Berrio, commissioned the residence as a wedding gift for his daughter, Mariana Berrio de la Campa y Cos, and her husband, Pedro de Moncada y Branciforte, the Marquis of Moncada of Sicily. Berrio y Saldivar, whose fortune came from mining and livestock, purportedly built the palace to equal his daughter's dowry of approximately 100,000 pesos, preventing his new son-in-law from squandering her wealth. The grandson of the builder later offered the palace to visiting dignitaries, including viceroy Felix Calleja and Agustin de Iturbide. Iturbide occupied the residence during his reign from 1821 to 1823, using it as his official domicile and office, and on May 15, 1822, he appeared on the central balcony to be proclaimed emperor by the Constituent Congress. Subsequently, the building housed the College of Mining in the early 19th century and served as the Hotel Iturbide for over a century after an 1855 remodel.

The museum focuses on disseminating Mexican folk art and displaying the private art collection of the Banco Nacional de Mexico. This collection comprises approximately 4,300 works spanning from the viceregal period to the present. It includes pieces by prominent Mexican artists such as Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, Frida Kahlo, Joaquin Clausell, and Manuel Alvarez Bravo. The collection was initiated around 1920 by Agustin Legorreta Garcia, who was then the general director of the bank.

Designed by architect Francisco Antonio Guerrero y Torres and completed by his brother-in-law Agustin Duran, the structure is considered a masterpiece of viceregal civil Baroque architecture. It is the only palatial residence built on four levels during the viceregal era, featuring three floors and a mezzanine. The design reflects an Italian-influenced Baroque interpretation that incorporates distinctive elements of indigenous Mexican roots into its decorative details. The facade combines red tezontle and cantera stone and is flanked by two fortified towers at its ends, united by a central gallery or loggia. The entrance portada features richly carved pilasters, two atlantes, a mixtilinear guantelete, organic and geometric motifs, flowers, small double-tailed mermaids, and graceful male figures. Inside, a large archway leads to a courtyard decorated with geometric figures and surrounded by eighteen arches supported by Tuscan columns, while the porch features a vaulted roof. The design was built as a replica of the royal palace of Palermo.

The Palace of Iturbide is located on the south sidewalk of Madero Avenue in the Cuauhtemoc district of Mexico City. In 1965, the Banco Nacional de Mexico purchased the building, undertaking a significant restoration from 1965 to 1972 under the direction of architect Ricardo Legorreta to convert it into an exhibition space. It subsequently became the home of the Fomento Cultural Banamex. A second major restoration took place between 2002 and 2004, culminating in the inauguration of the Palacio de Cultura Banamex by President Vicente Fox Quesada on January 19, 2004. The institution currently hosts numerous temporary art exhibitions and educational art workshops for adults and children.