Kiosko Morisco

It is well-known that during the last third of the XIX century, Mexico was dominated by Porfirio Díaz, who is the epitome of the Mexican dictator. However, during the period between 1880-1884, which in Mexican historiography is known as the Porfirian Interregnum, the Mexican president was Diaz’s “compadre” Manuel González, whose biggest merit, according to historians, was losing a hand in 1865 during the French Intervention and having an outrageous sexual appetite. Porfirio Díaz took advantage of this interregnum to devote himself to the development of the Mexican arts. As a matter of fact, it was Díaz’s idea to build the Octagonal Palace that was the main exhibit of Mexico during the 1884 Exposition. This palace was a Moorish style building, based on a former exhibit of Morocco in the Universal Exposition of Paris a few years before. Nevertheless, and as I mentioned before, this Palace, despite its luxury and high economic cost, was to become a secondary element of the Mexican exhibit. Nowadays, this palace, known as Kiosco Morisco, is located in the Alameda of Santa María la Ribera in Mexico City (my family lives just across the street, so I have been able to look at this building an exhaustive amount of times, imagining what Porfirio Díaz was thinking when he “designed” it; beyond its stain glasses, there are not other elements of Díaz’s beloved French style in it).