Castillo de Chapultepec

Castillo de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Castle) is a castle located on top of a hill in the middle of a park with the same name right in the middle of the vast Mexico City. It was constructed by viceroy Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid and it’s the only castle in America.

It was constructed as a summer house for the viceroy but it was given many different uses throughout the time such as a powder storage for the military academy (after being abandoned for over ten years after Mexico’s Independence), an astronomy observatory, and the official residence of Emperor Maximiliano I and since 1944, it has served as a museum under the name  “Museo Nacional de Historia “Castillo de Chapultepec”

The castle is composed of several patios, gardens, living rooms, vestibules and more all dating back to the 19th century.

The castle was bombarded once by Americans during the Mexican-American War in 1947 and a tale says that the “Niños Heroes” (a military group of young men) died defending the castle and they are now honored at the entrance hall of the castle.

Chapultepec Castle was used in several scenes of movie “Romeo + Juliet” starring Leonardo DiCaprio in 1996.