Glorieta Plaza de Sevilla (Seville Plaza Roundabout)

This area of the Insurgentes Mixcoac colonia (neighborhood) of Mexico City, could well be called “Little Spain.” Not necessarily because of a large migrant community from the European country, but rather just because of its street names. Málaga, Santander, Cádiz, and others can be found here, although Seville does not get a street and is instead the namesake of the Plaza Sevilla, a small roundabout with a peculiar monument at its center.

The Fuente de Sevilla (Seville Fountain) was built here in the 1920s, with a design from architect Leonardo Noriega and engineer Javier Stávoli. Noriega and Stávoli are probably best known for the Parque México, one of the city’s main parks. Parque México is located in the Condesa colonia, noted for its Art Deco and Art Nouveau architecture, dating to the 1920s and 30s.

Plaza Sevilla’s fountain follows the same trends, with an almost pyramidal geometric design, decorated with undulating corners and stained glass on all four sides. Near the top, paintings of the Sun and Moon complete the design. The fountain basin is carved in stone, and the designers’ names are found on a plaque here.

By the 1970s, the fountain stood forgotten, and for almost 50 years it was vandalized and deteriorated (even losing an original clock). Its renovation was finished in 2020, and since then, it has stood as a small yet significant century-old heritage.