Plazuela Machado

Plazuela Machado is the square at the heart of Mazatlán's historic centre, a few blocks inland from the Paseo Olas Altas, with its address on Calle Constitución. It is one of the oldest plazas in the city and is often described as its first space designed purely for recreation. It was built in 1837 by Juan Nepomuceno Machado, a merchant who traded in textiles, silver and pearls; the land was his and Antonio Miranda Palacio's, a lagoon had to be filled in to make it, and Doña Tomasa Osuna gave a large sum to the work. Machado later handed it to the city on the condition that it stay a public square.

The first layout had 36 stone benches and orange trees, so people called it the Paseo de los Naranjos. In 1852 the fighting in which some 60 local men turned back the 250 soldiers of Governor Francisco de la Vega took place on and around the square. In 1868 twenty iron benches were ordered from Europe, and a remodel in 1881 added the iron kiosk that still stands in the middle, provided by General Bernardo Reyes; military bands played from it during the US and French occupations. The richest merchants of the port built their trading houses and homes around the plaza, and their doorways, porticos and lintels still frame it.

Today the plazuela is the evening meeting point of the old town. Restaurants, cafés, galleries and bars with live music spill out under the trees, artisans set up stalls on weekends, and the square hosts art shows, book fairs, an annual food fair of local restaurants and part of the Carnaval. A bust of the poet Amado Nervo, who walked these streets and wrote about the plaza, has stood on the corner of Carnaval and Constitución since 2018. The Teatro Ángela Peralta stands right beside the square, and the cathedral is a short walk away.