Palace of the Marqués del Apartado

The Palace of the Marquis del Apartado is a historic residence located in Mexico City, just to the northeast of the city's Zocalo (main plaza) in the Historic center of Mexico City.

It was built between 1795 and 1805 over one of the pyramids of the Aztec sacred precinct in Tenochtitlan. The residence was initially built for the main minter of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the third floor was prepared to become the residence of Spanish king Ferdinand VII. However, the king never came to colonial Mexico. Today, the palace houses the main headquarters of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH).

During the Aztec Empire, the land on which this building is located was part of the teocalli, or sacred precinct of Tenochtitlan. The building sits on the remains of the pyramid dedicated to the goddess Cihuacóatl, the sister of Huitzilopochtli. The base of this pyramid was found in 1910, and a 1.5 ton sculpture of an eagle from this period was discovered in 1985.

After the conquest, the site was part of land granted to the Acevedo family. This grant extended to what are now the streets of Rep. de Guatemala, Rep. de Argentina, Donceles and Rep. de Brasil. Over time, however, this grant was split up and parts sold to other owners. The site of the current palace was sold to Francisco de Fagoaga y Arósqueta, who was in charge of minting and the collection of the king's share of precious metals mined in Mexico. Fagoaga commissioned architect Manuel Tolsá, who built a number of other structures in the city to design, to build this palace between 1795 and 1805. Tolsa designed the building similarly to the Palacio de Minería, which he designed, and included workshops for smelting metals and a chapel.

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