Old Portal de Mercaderes (Mexico City)

Old Portal de Mercaderes in the historic center of Mexico City was and is the west side of the main plaza (otherwise known as the "Zócalo").

The buildings on the north side of Madero is occupied by offices on the upper floors and shops at ground level.

The southside buildings are dominated on the ground floor by fine jewelry stores, marking the beginning of the "Centro Joyero Zocalo."

[4][5] The first colonial building was built on this side of the square by Melchor Davila, dedicated to selling food and other merchandise.

[1] Much of the land here was granted to Don Rodrigo de Albornoz, Count of Santiago, secretary to King Carlos V and named the accountant for New Spain.

[6] Much, but not all, of the west side of the Zocalo was owned by Albornoz, including the portion at the southwest corner of the plaza, near the city council building.

[6] The resulting archway ran almost the entire side of the Zocalo, covering what is now Madero and 16 de Septiembre Streets.

In the 19th century, hat shops established themselves here, and other vendors attached shelving onto the arches' columns to sell toys.

[6] This would be a constant issue for both the Portal and the Zocalo area in general, with the occasional attempt to clear out ambulatory vendors and other unregulated selling.

Despite much initial resistance, this area has been free of street peddlers since that time,[10] with the west side of the Zocalo now dominated by jewelry shops that are located in the first floor of the buildings.

This building came into being as the "Mercantile Center" in 1899,[4] built for José de Teresa, a merchant and ambassador of Mexico to Austria.

[7] It was the first building built using the "Chicago" technique, using iron and concrete and was home to one of the first department stores in Mexico City.