Mexico City - Palace of Fine Arts

(Local Name: Palacio de Bellas Artes) On Avenida Lázaro Cárdenas, east of Alameda park, towers the massive marble building of the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts). Commissioned during the presidency of the dictator Porfirio Díaz and designed mainly by the Italian architect Adamo Boari, it clearly shows Art Nouveau and Art Deco influences. Although begun in 1900 it was not completed until 1934. The weight of the heavy Carrara marble has caused it to sink more than 4 m (13 ft) into the ground, in spite of attempts to lighten it by removing part of the facing of the dome. During construction work in front of the palace in 1993/94, no fewer than 2000 pre-Hispanic items, including 700 examples of Aztec ceramic ware, were uncovered, together with 200 graves dating from the colonial period, and the remains of the 17th c. Santa Isabel convent. The headquarters since 1946 of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, the palace now serves primarily as an opera-house and concert hall.