Federal
Neighborhood of Mexico City
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church in the center of the neighborhood
Federal
Coordinates: 19°25′12″N 99°5′17″W / 19.42000°N 99.08806°W / 19.42000; -99.08806
Country	Mexico
City	Mexico City
Borough	Venustiano Carranza
Postal code	15700

Colonia Federal is a colonia in the Venustiano Carranza borough of Mexico City, just south of the Mexico City International Airport. The neighborhood is known for its particular shape that resembles a spider web.

History and design

The neighborhood was built on the Llanos de Balbuena, land previously owned by the Braniff family, a bourgeois family living in the country ( Alberto Braniff, the first aviator of Latin America, was a member of it). ^[1] In 1908, the government of the country acquired 72 ha (180 acres) of land. The government considered creating a cemetery in the area, but since it was located far from the city center, the idea was discarded. After the end of the Mexican Revolution, around 1924, a prison was considered for construction. Instead, employees of the Secretariat of the Interior bought the land (then known as Cuatro Árboles) to build a neighborhood exclusively for civil servants. ^[2] On 24 October 1924, president Álvaro Obregón authorized the sale but regretted that despite its size, the site was not large enough to accommodate all the employees. Construction began on 8 February 1925 and eight days later the neighborhood was officially founded. ^[2]

Street names reference the cabinet of Mexico and other government dependencies. These include names such as Hacienda ( Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit), Contraloría ( Secretariat of Civil Service), or Trabajo ( Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare). ^[3] The radio-centric shape of the neighborhood, which resembles the design of a spider's web, is similar to that of Palmanova, a commune in Udine, Italy, or Place Charles de Gaulle, a road junction in Paris, France. By 1946, electricity was added to the area, drinking water pipes were installed in 1947, and by mid-century, the streets were paved. ^[2]

Points of interest

In the middle, there is a roundabout (officially the Plaza del Poder Ejecutivo) with a culture center named Poliforum Cultural Colonia Federal. ^[2] In front of it, there is the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church (Parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón), which was built in 1962. ^[2]

Transportation

Colonia Federal is serviced by the Hangares metro station to the north and the Gómez Farías metro station to the south. ^{[4] [5]}

References

External links

• Media related to Colonia Federal at Wikimedia Commons