Mexico City is a modern, cosmopolitan city situated in an old lake basin that is surrounded by volcanic mountains. It is the ancient capital of the Mexica empire and is one of the most beautiful and most complex cities in the world. It has a magnificent history behind its cosmopolitan lifestyle today. Beginning around 1200 BC, a series of great civilizations ruled the central and southern portions of Mexico City including the Olmecs, the Maya, the Toltecs and a number of other groups. In the 1850s, it was embroiled in a civil war that eventually resulted in Benito Juarez being elected president.

Juarez instituted liberal government and the separation of church and state in a political movement called La Reforma. He also led the fight against French invaders, who ruled the country for several years and placed Emperor Maximilian on the throne before being forced to withdraw. The modern era began in 1910 with the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution. The decade-long conflict produced some of Mexico's most enduring figures, including the rebel leaders Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata.

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) held power through the next seven decades, giving Mexico one of the most stable governments in Latin America. The colonial period was the most remarkable period of Mexico City. European architects arrived during this period. They applied and shared their knowledge of baroque, neoclassic and other styles of art that was combined with the indigenous styles to create an architecture that is exquisite in all the world. Some marvelous examples of their Works are the Metropolitan Cathedral, palaces, mansions and an endless number of sober, sumptuous churches that adorn the central area of the city now called the Historic Center.

These marvelous structures maintain a provincial atmosphere. In the 1990s, Mexico City experienced more upheaval. An armed uprising by the Zapatista National Liberation Army in the state of Chiapas drew new attention to the poverty endured by many of the country's inhabitants. A high-profile political assassination and a scandal involving former president Carlos Salinas gave a new incentive to those seeking a reform of Mexico's political system. After several prominent victories by opposition candidates in local and regional elections, Vicente Fox was elected president in 2000, breaking the PRI's hold on power. Eventually, the different cultures that inhabited the city during the course of the centuries left an interesting architectural legacy.