History

Porfirio Díaz’s administration (1876–1911) transformed the centre of Mexico City through a systematic building campaign aligned with the Paris of Haussmann and the Vienna of the Ringstrasse. New civic buildings were to project the image of a modern nation; their architects were almost entirely European. Adamo Boari, who had trained in Florence and worked in Chicago before arriving in Mexico City, was engaged in 1897 for two projects simultaneously: a new national theatre (the Bellas Artes, begun 1904) and a new central post office on the adjacent site. The post office, the smaller commission, was completed first.

Construction began in 1902 on a difficult site: the soft lacustrine soils of the former Lake Texcoco required deep concrete piling. Boari specified Chiluca limestone from Querétaro and bronze hardware cast in the United States; the steel structural frame came from American manufacturers. The eclectic ornamental programme — Gothic arcade, Plateresque window surrounds, Mudéjar tile accents — was executed by a mixed team of Mexican and Italian craftsmen. The inauguration on 17 February 1907 was attended by Díaz and the diplomatic corps, with the building functioning as a post office from day one.

The building survived the 1985 earthquake with minimal structural damage and underwent major restoration in the 1990s. Today it operates simultaneously as a working post office, a museum of Mexican postal history, and an architectural landmark visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists annually. Access to the public floors and the central stair hall is free.