Barrio Antiguo

The Barrio Antiguo is the oldest part of downtown Monterrey still standing, a grid of narrow streets just east of the Macroplaza and behind the cathedral. In colonial times the district stretched from the Santa Catarina river north to Calle 5 de Mayo and from Calle Mina east to what is now Avenida Benito Juárez. Its oldest house dates from the 17th century.

This is where the city grew after Diego de Montemayor's founding in 1596. A flood from the Santa Lucía springs in 1612 pushed the main square south, and the parish church begun in 1626 grew into the cathedral, whose tower was finished in 1791; the Capilla de los Dulces Nombres followed in 1830. In September 1846 the Battle of Monterrey was fought house to house in these streets, and the American general Zachary Taylor lodged in the Casona de Santa Lucía. Industry later drew people to new neighborhoods and the old quarter declined, and in 1984 more than half of the historic core was knocked down to make the Macroplaza; the cathedral and the old Palacio Municipal, now the Museo Metropolitano, survived.

Today the barrio mixes restored houses, cafés, cantinas and small cultural centers. In the 1990s and 2000s it was the center of Monterrey's nightlife; that faded sharply after 2010, though some bars held on, and since 2013 the city and state have restored facades and closed some streets to cars. Every Sunday since 1992, Calle Mina hosts the Callejón Cultural, or Corredor del Arte, with crafts, books, antiques and live music. The Museo Metropolitano, the Museo del Palacio and, at the Explanada Santa Lucía, the Museo de Historia Mexicana and the Museo del Noreste are all a few blocks away, and the Paseo Santa Lucía riverwalk starts at the edge of the district.