Taking in the sights at Chapultepec Castle

Chapultepec Castle is a place I’ve visited a couple of times so far in my two months in Mexico City. The palace is beautiful to look at and it carries a ton of history.

It once served as a training ground for the Mexican military academy. Then it served as the residence of Emperor Maximilian I in the 1860s. Later, it was an astronomical observatory and then a presidential residence until 1944, when it became a museum and the official presidential home moved to Los Pinos.

These days, the palace still serves as a museum. Given its location atop Chapultepec Hill, it’s one of the best places to see Mexico City from above. The view goes all the way down Paseo de la Reforma to the famous Angel de la Independencia.

Visiting is interesting because there’s so much history from different eras. The building now has stained glass windows depicting Mexican flags and religious imagery, a large rooftop tower and garden, murals depicting the Mexican revolution, and preserved opulent rooms from the days when the country’s leaders used to call the castle home.

The patterned tiled floors inside and outside the residence portion of the castle make for great photos.

And, of course, so does the stained glass.

Inside the museum portion of the building, you’ll find stunning murals on the walls and ceilings.

Outside, it’s the garden, statues, and fountains.

Chapultepec Castle is one of my favorite attractions in Mexico City, one of the few that I happily returned to more than once. It should be on anyone’s list of places to see in CDMX.