Satelite Sights

Many of the old history of the area is seen in Our Lady of Los Remedios Shrine and its aqueduct. House watching has never been a popular activity, but certainly there are many interesting architectural details to be seen.

The Satélite Towers. This landmark stands in the middle of Periferico, Mexico City's main Freeway. Built by Mathias Goeritz and Luis Barragán and inspired in the painter Jesus Reyes Ferreyra's ideas, it is truly a great piece of architecture. Due to the unusual fact that nobody really own the land over which they were built, they were not maintained by any government and had fallen into disrepair, until they were finally repainted in their original colors, which had been chosen by Barragán, and recovered their landmarking symbol in the late 90's.

Naucalli Park is a large extension of eucalypt forest devoted to the recreation of locals and other inhabitants of nearby areas. It used to be an ejido (communal agricultural grounds) called "Ejido de Oro". An expropriation decree converted it into a park which has a jogging circuit, many playground spots, monumental fountains, a convention center, an Agora (forum for art exhibits), a Culture House, the branch of a well-known Mexico City restaurant, an archery training ground, a big forum for classical music concerts (The State of Mexico Symphonic Orchestra used to play here on Sundays) and an amusement park with animatronic dinosaurs.

Plaza Satélite, built in the late sixties by the studio of the famous architect Juan Sordo Madaleno, is one of the biggest malls in Mexico City. It has undergone two full renewals and has all of the big department stores of the country, music stores, restaurants, boutiques, services and a big cinema complex.

Mundo E is a smaller, most middle to lower middle class tendered mall, with libraries, boutiques, another cinema complex, a fitness center and a couple of nightclubs.

Other smaller malls are: Heliplaza, Shopping Plaza and the commerces on Zona Esmeralda. A new and controversial big mall was built at La Cúspide (The Summit), which is the area's highest ground, offering sweeping views of Mexico City.

The Mall Circuit Zone (Circuito Centro Comercial) is Satélite's central commercial zone. Besides the big mall, it includes several commerces such as restaurants, nightclubs, cafeterias, three different but excellent bookstores, banks, and all the usual suspects of a twenty first century suburb.

The Blue Zone (La Zona Azul) is a nostalgic pair of commercial blocks that have some of the first businesses that operated in the area. It is such a famous icon of Satélite that it is the local place for joy demonstrations after Mexican National Team's victories in soccer matches. A well-known ice cream and spicy fruit parlour is the main culinary attraction. There are of course other food options, a branch of a world class cafeteria and an old stationary store. The Blue zone is known for drag racing of motorcycles and custom tuned cars.

The Ruins of Acropolis. Originally built as an outdoor shopping mall. The Acropolis never obtained popularity and was abandoned. Nowadays it stands as one of the landmarks of ciudad satélite. Locals are proud of the unique style of the acropolis architecture.

Luis Barragán's sculptures can be seen in Arboledas neighbourhood. However, some monuments are in a decrepit state.

Parque de los Ciervos (Wild Deer Park) in Zona Esmeralda is a forest park where wild deers are raised. Picnic and playground facilities.