The shooting of Roma, by Alfonso Cuarón , has boosted the popularity of the Mexico City neighborhood even further.
The film, which recently won three Academy Awards, led Paulina Vargas , coordinator of a cultural collective called Historias por México (Stories for Mexico), to create a tour through the Roma neighborhood for tourists to get acquainted with some of its main tourist and cultural attractions, including the house where Alfonso Cuarón lived during his childhood.
The tour begins at Romita Plaza , between Morelia St. and Cuauhtémoc Avenue. At this point, the tour guide will tell that the neighborhood was founded by a businessman called Edward Walter Orrin , who owned a very famous circus during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz .
Next stop is Rio de Janeiro Plaza. In case you have never been to Florence, here you will find an exact metal replica of David, the Renaissance masterpiece by Michelangelo, donated by the Italian government.
The tour will continue on Jalapa street and stop at number 22, the Benito Juárez elementary school , built by Mexican architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia , who also made Mexico City’s famous Monument to the Revolution .
Not far from there you will find Huerto Roma , where local neighbors offer workshops to learn to make compost and grow your own produce.
The tour ends at the house on Tepeji street that appears in the film. You may take all the pictures you like. However, in front of this house is the actual house where Alfonso Cuarón spent his childhood, on number 22, Tepeji street.
Cost: MXN$150 per person.
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