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| Palace of Cortés, Cuernavaca |
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This sixteenth-century
stone structure, which sits on one edge of Cuernavaca's
main plazas, was begun under the direction of Hernando
Cortés, the conqueror of Mexico. It was enlarged by descendants,
and was once fronted by an enclosed yard surrounded by
a crenulated wall. Cuernavaca presided over one of the
major segments of the Marquesado del Valle, the huge estate
granted to Cortés in 1529. It was his preferred place
of residence while he was in Mexico. The building was
erected on top of a precontact structure that seems to
have been the palace of the indigenous tlatoani (ruler)
of Cuauhnahuac, as Cuernavaca was known at the time.
Photo by Robert Haskett, taken on December 17, 1981 with
a Minolta SRT 101 camera using Kodachrome slide film.
©2005 |
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