A small plaque reads: “En este sitio estuvo el Hospital Real de Terceros, demolido para construir el Palacio Postal, o Quinta Casa de Correos, en 1902, siendo una obra arquitectónica ejemplar de hierro.”

“On this site was the Third Royal Hospital, demolished in order to construct the Postal Palace, or Fifth Post Office, in 1902, being an exemplary architectural work of iron.”

The iron construction was popular was popular all over Europe at the turn of the century, and shows up in the stairways and the glassed-in ceilings.It was designed by the Italian architect Adamo Boari, renowned for his Neoclassical and Arte Nouveau architecture. He also designed the nearby Palacio de Bellas Artes, but only got as far as the exterior before the Mexican Revolution began and the whole project was put on hold. The text just below the windows tell a story of the postal service in Mexico. This one reads: “1856, First Postal Stamp.”A view of nearby old buildings from a decorative arched window. If the Palacio de Bellas Artes fully shows off Boari’s Neoclassical bent, the Palacio Postal has a more neutral exterior, designed to fit in with the rest of the buildings in the historical center.It was the interior where Boari really got to shine, and his interior is filled with Arte Nouveau and other personal touches. The Atlas Obscura mentions all the gilding in the Postal Palace, and how it is still manages to be a working post office filled with people going about their business surrounded by ‘blinding amounts of gold’. The interior details are interesting as well.A wall of Mexican onyx with a bronze letter box. An eagle grasping a snake in its beak while sitting on a cactus, the symbol of Mexico, expressed in a gold seal embedded in a black marble wall. There is also a collection of postal memorabilia along one side of the building. This is one of many old post boxes.10 centavo stamps for sale by an automatic stamp selling machine. An old gilded safe.A motorbike used for postal delivery. More of the Lens-Artists Challenge: Architecture.