Colonia Doctores | |
|---|---|
 Temple of "Nuestra Señora de Belén" (Our Lady of Bethlehem) located on Arco de Belen street | |
 Location of Colonia Doctores (in red) withinCuauhtémoc borough | |
| Country |  Mexico |
| City |  Mexico City |
| Borough | Cuauhtémoc |
| Population (2010) | |
• Total | 44,703[1] |
Colonia Doctores (English: Doctors' Colony) isan official neighborhood just southwest of thehistoric center ofMexico City. It is bordered by Avenida Cuauhtémoc to the west, across from Belen Street to the north,Eje Central to the east and Eje 3 Sur José Peón Contreras to the south.[2]
The neighborhood was planned byFrancisco Lascuráin in 1889, in an area called "La Indianilla".[3] This name came from three indigenous women named María Clara, María Concepción and María Paula, who sold some of their land here to Father Domingo Pérez Barcia to build a small chapel. However, Lascuràin never followed through with his plans to construct the neighborhood. In 1895, The Mexican City Property Syndicate Limited proposed the plan to lay out the neighborhood anew, gaining approval of theMexico Cityayuntamiento. The major streets such as Niños Heroes, Dr. Lavista, and Dr. Río de la Loza were laid out.[2]
Originally thecolonia was called "Hidalgo" but, as almost all of the streets here are named after famous physicians, the area became known as "Doctores", leading to its current official name.[3]
In 1880, Ramón Guzmán, owner of an enterprise of streetcars pulled by mules, established a yard there for the maintenance and storage of his vehicles. Today theProcuraduría de Justicia del D.F. (Court house of the Federal District) is located in its place. A couple of decades later, a large part of this area was owned by the Compañía de Tranvías (also known as the Mexican Electric Transway), serving as atrainyard as well as housing workshops for the maintenance and repair of rail cars. This service began in 1900.[2] The presence of train engineers, who worked all hours, gave rise to that of vendors selling food, especially chicken soup ("caldo de pollo") in the late night and early morning hours. This tradition remains, and the area is noted for its soup.[3]
TheGeneral Hospital of Mexico (Hospital General de Mexico) was inaugurated on 5 February 1905 and covers seventeen hectares.[3] Today, the hospital employs 6,000 professionals including doctors, nurses, technicians, paramedics and administrators. Each day, the hospital treats 3,000 outpatients, discharges about 112 inpatients, and performs 164 surgeries and other invasive procedures. It has 39 medical specialties in treatment, diagnostics and rehabilitation, providing care at the secondary and tertiary level.
The hospital also receives each year 1,163 medical students and 447 residents as well as 1,624 nursing students and other paramedical trainees. It is also a research hospital with 70 investigators, 27 percent of whom are members of Mexico'sNational System of Researchers (SNI), publishing about 158 articles each year.[4]
Doctores is home of Arena México, considered the "cathedral" oflucha libre, a style ofprofessional wrestling. The arena hosts wrestling four days a week, on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.[5]Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, the oldestprofessional wrestling promotion in the world, along with sister promotion Lucha Libre Elite, are the current tenants of the Arena México.
The historical building of the formerBelem Prison houses the present-day Instituto Maria Isabel Dunde, a preschool and primary school.[citation needed] It hasmurals byRaúl Anguiano and glasswork by Revueltas.[3]
Located on Dr. Vértiz 12, on the corner of Arcos de Belén, it is one of the most prestigious law schools in Mexico, and second only toUNAM in age. It was founded on 14 July 1912, during a time when Mexico was in political turmoil, includingstudent unrest against the regime of PresidentPorfirio Díaz. It offers degrees at both the bachelor's and master's levels for those seeking careers as lawyers and other aspects of juridical science.[6]
On Doctor Jiménez street, is an old mansion that was a wedding gift forPorfirio Díaz and his new wife doñaCarmen Romero Rubio. They first used the house as a getaway as this area was just on the outskirts of the city at the time. In 1904, they decided to convert it into an educational center for working mothers and their children, known as the "Casa Amiga de la Obrera" (Friends House of the Working Woman).[3] It is now theEscuela de Participación Social No. 1 (Social Participation School No. 1) primary school affiliated withUNESCO.
TheCentro Cultural Estación Indianilla is located on Claudio Bernard Street in thecolonia. This cultural center was opened in 2006 in what was an old workshop for the reparation of tram cars. The building had been in disrepair for a number of decades. It now houses exhibition space for modern and "alternative" art, taking advantage of the buildings tall ceilings and rooms built to accommodate railcars. In its basement, is theFrida de Juguete Arte Objeto Museum with pieces from artists such asAlberto Castro Leñero,Ángel Fermín Vizuet,Francisco Toledo,Gustavo Pérez,Irma Palacios,Jazz Moart andJoe Laville.[7]
This facility was inaugurated in 1964, becoming the most important center for specialized medicine in the country. It is located on Cuauhtémoc Avenue in the far southwest corner of the colonia. The hospital houses about 30 works of art from fourteen different artists such asDavid Alfaro Siqueiros,Federico Cantú,Luis Nishizawa,Francisco Zúñiga,José Chávez Morado,Salvador Pinoncelly andTosia Malamud. The1985 Mexico City earthquake damaged many of the buildings' foundations requiring demolitions but their artworks were salvaged. The center sees the art as an integral part of the healing process. Inside the main entrance of the hospital is a mural called "Homage to rescue" by José Chávez Morado. It is 230 square meters etched in marble done between 1988 and 1999.[8]
This area, especially the northern section, is home to a number of Mexico City's governmental offices, including:
The area has a reputation of being highcrime. It was ranked among the top 25 neighborhoods of the city for percentage of residents incarcerated,[9] and it was ranked fourth most “dangerous” neighborhood based on thetotal number of reported crimes per day (not calculated per capita), behindCentro,Colonia del Valle, andColonia Narvarte.[10] It is also known for its large numbers ofcantinas,cabarets and “hoteles de paso” (hotels with hourly rates).[9] However, most of the crime associated with this area is related to car theft andchop shops. For example, aHummer stolen fromEl Paso, Texas, was found intact on the streets here.[11]
Colonia Doctores used to be the home to manypulquerías, bars or cantinas that servepulque to a mostly lower-class clientele. However, in Mexico City, these establishments have been heavily regulated because they were often seen as centers of vice. Due to this, and the increasing popularity ofbeer, very few pulquerías still exist; a remaining example is "La Hija de los Apaches" at Dr. Lavista 186.[12]
19°25′3.38″N99°8′50.74″W / 19.4176056°N 99.1474278°W /19.4176056; -99.1474278
