La Merced (neighborhood)

In the 1980s, the wholesale function of this market was taken over by the newly constructed Centro de Abasto in the south of the city, with the barrio then going into economic and social decline, with the area having problems with poverty, prostitution and population loss.

It is defined by the streets of San Pablo to the south, Corregiadora to the north, Circunvalación to the east and José María Pino Suárez to the west.

It is bordered by Fray Servando Teresa de Mier to the south, San Pablo to the north, Circunvalacion to the east and Pino Suárez to the west.

Foreign immigration has included Lebanese, Jewish, Spanish, Greek, Italian, Turkish, French, Syrian, Irish, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, African, German, Croatian, Bohemian, and Armenian from Europe, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, and Indians from Asia as well as immigrants from Africa and the Middle East.

[2][1][5] One notable establishment related to immigration in the area is Café Bagdad, which is popular among the Lebanese population, which comes to drink Middle Eastern style coffee.

[1] Its socioeconomic marginalization is a result of various disruptions such as population movement and modernization efforts that included dividing the area politically and through the construction of large thoroughfares.

The organization states that most prostitutes begin as minors and in 2008 prompted the city to crack down on hotels in La Merced and Buenavista where sexual exploitation of women and girls was worst.

Although proof was never found, many people still believe the story, said to have gotten to that size eating the mounds of garbage produced by the La Merced market.

[3] Located in the barrio's heart, between Anillo de Circunvalacion and Morazán streets, this market is one of the largest of its kind in Latin America.

[3] While still a large and important market, at its height it supported hundreds human carriers called mecalapers, watchmen, baggers and warehousers, trades such as carpentry, tailoring and glassworking and other businesses such as restaurants, lodging, cantinas and bars specializing in pulque.

[3][4] All that remains of a complex that extended over most of what is now the modern barrio is a small cloister near the Plaza Alonso García Bravo, noted for its highly elaborate relief work.

[3] Another major colonial religious institution was the Jesús María convent, which was founded in the 16th century for upper-class Spanish women.

This altar commemorates the area's traditional commerce in items for Child Jesus figures in Mexico, especially clothes for rites related to Candlemas.

In its center, there is a fountain with a figure of an eagle on a nopal cactus with a snake in its mouth, as this spot, according to tradition, is where the Mexica saw this sign, telling them to settle here.

[3][5] The Plaza Alonso Garcia Bravo is home to a permanent tianguis, with carps blocking the view of the fountain and the monument to the Spaniard responsible for outlay of modern Mexico City after the Conquest.

[3] The Parish of Santo Tomás La Palma has a Baroque portal made of sandstone which features a Christ on the cross in relief.

Inside, the vaults have paintings and the main altar has an image of Saint Thomas touching the wound on Christ's side.

[5] The La Merced area is one of the oldest parts of Mexico City, settled by the Mexica over 700 years ago, known as Tempan or Teopan.

Even though the temple to Huitzilopochtli was moved, the area remained important with a shrine to Ehécatl, the Casa de Pajaros and a brewery that produced pulque for the royal palace.

Political changes to the area began early with the territory divided into three parts: Parcialidad de San Pablo, Cuartel and Colonia Centro.

[1][2] During the colonial period, the main grain market was here as was the building where the Church collected its tithe, the Alhóngida Casa del Diezmo as well as two of the largest and richest monasteries of the time, Jesús María and La Merced and various mansions including that of the Marquis de Aguayo which is now called the Casa Talavera.

[3] The most important change to the area was the expropriation of the lands of the La Merced monastery (most of the current barrio) to be demolished to construct commercial and residential spaces.

[1] In the 1860s, this vast monastery complex, which covered most of the barrio's current extension was almost entirely demolished as part of efforts to modernize the historic center of Mexico City.

[1][2][3] This effort coincided with the national business interests as well as foreign investors in Mexico and prompted the development of services such as electricity, running water, telegraph and transport options such as trains, trolleys and automobiles.

[2] The outbreak of the Mexican Revolution caused a decline in the area's commerce, but this recovered slowly after the fighting ended, returning to former levels by the 1950s.

During this decade, it became the most important wholesale food market in Mexico City, prompting the building of new business and services such as hotels, taxis, bus terminals and public restrooms.

Immigrants diversified the commerce of the area, expanding into household items, handcrafts, fabric, paper goods and clothing.

However, the most important change was the construction of the Central de Abasto in Iztapalapa, taking over La Merced's role as the main wholesale food market for the city.

A number of streets such as Republic de El Salvador, Mesones, Roldán, Santo Tomas and Corregiadora have been converted into the “Alhóndiga-Talavera pedestrian corridor.” The corridor has improvements in lighting, signs.

[2][5] From 2009 and 2012,100 million pesos were invested in this pedestrian area as well as restoring the facades of a number of historic buildings, commercial spaces such as Roldán and the redesign of Plaza Alonso García Bravo.