View source for The Fine Arts Palace

[[Image:Bellas Artes.jpg|right]]
'''The Fine Arts Palace''' principal [[Mexico]] City's museum of fine arts (Palacio de Bellas Artes). The Palace is foremost a theater but it houses the Palace museum as well as the National Museum of [[Architecture]] and galleries for paintings and other works of [[art]]. 

President [[Porfirio Diaz]] ordered the construction of this building in the early 1900s. He planned to inaugurate it as part of the celebrations of the centenary of Mexico's independence from [[Spain]]. The Revolution broke out in 1910, interrupting the construction, so it was not completed until 1934. The inauguration of the Palace of Fine Arts took place on September 29, 1934, when the play "La verdad sospechosa" by [[Juan Ruiz de Alarcón]] was performed.  

The building's marble [[Art Nouveau]] exterior reflects the [[Italian]] architect Adamo Boari's original plans, whereas the interior, designed by Federico Mariscal, has [[Art Deco]] elements. 

The theater's main attractions are: 

* A Tiffany stained glass stage curtain portraying a panoramic view of the Valley of Mexico with its two volcanos. (Tiffany Studios of [[New York]] produced the crystal curtain.)
* Murals by Rufino Tamayo, [[Diego Rivera]], David Alfaro Siqueiros and Jose Clemente Orozco.

== References ==
*[http://gomexico.about.com/od/sights/ss/df_walking_9.htm A Walking Tour of Mexico City]
<references/>
*[http://www.ptv.com.mx/traditionsoftheworld/palace.htm THE PALACE OF FINE ARTS IN MEXICO CITY]

[[Category:Museums]]
[[Category:Tourist Attractions]]
[[Category:Mexico]]