Santa María la Ribera

Santa María la Ribera is a traditional housing development in the City of Mexico, with great architectural and historical value, located in delegación of Cuauhtémoc and considered the first modern development in the city.

Some of the emblematic buildings that are still conserved are the Museum if Chopo, the Opera cinema, the Museum of Geology and the Kiosco Morisco.

History

A Mexico City neighborhood located just beyond the north-western edge of the "Centro Histórico"," Santa María la Ribera was originally known as "Santa María la Redonda"." At the time of conquest the area was adjacent to the Aztec capital "Tenochtitlan", and was, therefore under water. In fact it was one of the original areas ordered drained by Hernan Cortez. [Along with the area of "La Ribera de San Cosme" - today known simply as "San Cosme" in the "Colonia" of "San Rafael".] Until the 19th century the area was dominated a few principal haciendas. After Independence, however (1821), the area began to develop a more urban personality. Situated next door to San Cosme, where one of Mexico's main city gates was located, the area grew in importance and population. Neighborhoods for hacienda and other workers appeared and by the 1840s the Mexico City "Cabildo" (City Council) was hearing representations from those neighborhoods. For example, on the 10th of November, 1847 a letter from Juan María Gonzalez, a representative of citizen’s council of Santa María la Redonda was read in cabildo. The letter petitioned the Ayuntamiento to take action to deal with the appearance in the barrio of a large group of thugs and assassins. [See AHDF Ayuntamiento, Policía de Seguridad, Vol. 3691, Exp. 107, 10 de Noviembre 1847.] During the American occupation it was a troublesome area for American patrols who were chagrin to enter the area at night. [Gayón Córdova 1997, pp.510-14.] Later, in 1861, under French occupation, the area was officially designated a "colonia" and subsequently rose in prominence as an area for more residential development, specifically for small businessmen, state workers, professionals and intellectuals.

The Flores family acquired the "Rancho de Santa María" with the intent to construct a modern housing development and sell the homes. "Here," wrote Ramón López Velarde at the beginning of the twentieth century, "lives such philosophy, here such novelist; here, the widow and the kids of a poet; here, such knowledge of botany. But the uneducated appearance of the development, its fatalistic negligence, its sleepy peace dominate." After the second half of the twentieth-century, the Santa María la Ribera was transformed into a popular neighborhood as more expensive housing developments sprung up in other parts of the city and condominiums were constructed. With the arrival of television, the theaters and cinemas lost their appeal and the Rivoli and Majestic cinemas were demolished to make way for a parking lot and shopping center. After the earthquake of 1985, the housing development received new residents from damaged areas.

Cultural Importance

It was in this development that the artistic career of the ranchera music composer, José Alfredo Jiménez began, singing in the tavern Salón Paris.

Arturo Azuela wrote the: "El tamaño del infierno", "La casa de las mil vírgenes", "Los ríos de la memoria" and "Alameda de Santa María" while staying at Santa María.

One of the great novels of Fernando Del Paso, José Trigo, was written, in part, in the development.

In turn, Carlos Fuentes in his "La frontera de cristal" selected Santa María as an example of a place that for 80 years has given shame to its inhabitants and depressed the American tourists

Notes

References

* Berta Tello Peón, Santa María la Ribera, Clío, México, 1998.
* María Gayón Córdova, "La ocupación yanqui de la ciudad de México: 1847-48", (México, D.F.: INAH, 1997)
* "Archivo Histórico del Distrito Federal"(AHDF).

External links

* [http://www.mexicocity-guide.com/images/zones/santamarialaribera.htm Images of Santa Maria La Ribera]