San Ángel
| San Ángel | |
|---|---|
| Colonia | |
| Country | Mexico |
| Federal entity | D.F. |
| Borough | Álvaro Obregón |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.49 km2 (0.19 sq mi) |
| Population (1995) | |
| • Total | 1,888 |
| • Density | 3,820/km2 (9,900/sq mi) |
| Time zone | Central Standard Time (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | Central Daylight Time (UTC-5) |
| Postal code | 01000 |
San Ángel is a colonia or neighborhood of Mexico City, located in the southwest in Álvaro Obregón borough. Historically, it was a rural community, called Tenanitla in the pre-Hispanic period. Its current name is derived from the El Carmen monastery school called San Ángel Mártir. San Ángel remained a rural community, centered on the monastery until the 19th and 20th centuries, when the monastery was closed and when the area joined urban sprawl of Mexico City. However, the area still contains many of its former historic buildings and El Carmen is one of the most visited museums in the city. It is also home to an annual flower fair called the Feria de las Flores, held since 1856.
In 1934, San Ángel was declared as a Pueblo Típico Pintoresco (Picturesque Typical Town); in 1987, due to presidential order, it was declared historical monument zone.
San Ángel is located in the southwest of the Federal District of Mexico along the southern end of Avenida Insurgentes, bordering the Ciudad Universitaria of UNAM . For most of its history, the area was politically and physically separate from the urban sprawl of Mexico City, becoming part of it around the mid-20th century.
The community is surrounded by a volcanic rock bed called the Pedregal, which was formed by the eruption of nearby Xitle Volcano about two thousand years ago. Parts of this volcanic rock bed have been made into protected areas such as the Pedregal de San Ángel. This area is estimated to have a total of 350 native veined plant species, 100 species of birds, forty species of mammals and twenty of reptiles. The representative plant of the area is called the palo loco (crazy stick) because it blooms in the dry season rather than the rainy season.
The El Carmen complex is the identifying marker of San Ángel, especially the three tiled-covered domes of the church. It consists of church, former monastery and school buildings. The monastery school or “Colegio” was founded in 1613, but the building for it would not begin until two years later. This building was designed by Fray Andrés de San Miguel with the first stone laid in 1615, and it was operational in 1617. The school changed its name to Señora de Santa Ana in 1634, but while it retained the official name, it never caught on popularly.
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