Overview
The building began in 1785 as a viceroy’s summer house, became the military academy, and in 1847 was stormed by United States troops — the cadets who died defending it are commemorated below as the Niños Héroes. Maximilian remodelled it as a palace and laid out the boulevard now called Reforma to ride from the castle to the city centre. Presidents lived here until 1939, when Cárdenas gave it to the nation as a museum.
Highlights
The alcázar upstairs keeps the imperial apartments furnished, and the terrace looks down Reforma along the line Maximilian drew. Inside the museum, the murals by Siqueiros and O’Gorman are the strongest things in the collection. The hill is inside Chapultepec Park, which also holds the anthropology museum, so the two combine into a full day.