The Palace of Cortés
Photography by Bill and Dorothy Bell
![The Palace of Cortés (Spanish: Palacio de Cortés) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, is the oldest conserved colonial era civil structure on the continental Americas, being over 450 years old](Cuernavaca_5722.jpg)
The Palace of Cortés (Spanish: Palacio de Cortés) in
Cuernavaca, Mexico, is the oldest conserved colonial era civil
structure on the continental Americas, being over 450 years old.
The building began as a fortified residence for Hernán Cortés
and his second wife Juana Zúñiga. It was built in 1526, over a
Tlahuica/Aztec tribute collection center, which was destroyed by
the Spanish during the Conquest. Cortés replaced it with a
personal residence to assert authority over the newly conquered
peoples
![The Palace of Cortés (Spanish: Palacio de Cortés) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, is the oldest conserved colonial era civil structure on the continental Americas, being over 450 years old](Cuernavaca_5718_small.jpg)
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Diego Rivera in The
Palace of Cortes
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