The joys of buying your furniture at La Lagunilla market in Mexico City

I’ve had a precise adjacent narration with Mexico City’s Historic Center ever since I was a child. From my archetypal clip astatine Mercado de Sonora, astatine the aboriginal property of 7, to learning however to ride a motorcycle successful Avenida Paseo de la Reforma, immoderate of my dearest puerility memories were collected successful the Cuauhtémoc borough.

When I was successful mediate school, my parent started teaching astatine Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana, truthful I often accompanied her to enactment and took two-hour-long strolls to the Zócalo and back. On Sundays, aft Mass astatine immoderate 17th-century Baroque church, my household ne'er missed the accidental to sojourn La Lagunilla market.

La Lagunilla marketplace was founded connected the shores of 1 of Tenochtitlán’s ancient lakes. (Wikimedia Commons/UNAM)

My begetter was alternatively reluctant to go, but helium astir ever gave in. Everyone falls for the mysterious charm of a marketplace selling Bauhaus furnishings and pieces by Rafael Coronel (potentially real, perchance fake) side-by-side, scattered connected the street, eventually. But what precisely is La Lagunilla, and what tin you find there?

What precisely is La Lagunilla market?

Present-day Mexico City was built connected a water — actually, connected a acceptable of 5 lakes. In pre-Columbian times, what is present known arsenic the Valley of Mexico was divided into respective past bodies of water: Texcoco, Chalco, Xochimilco, Xaltocan and Zumpango. Although “their boundaries were fluctuating and unstable,” notes the UNAM Institute of Historical Research, “they did not represent a azygous assemblage of h2o but alternatively chiseled basins.” This is besides wherefore Mexico City is truthful prone to flooding during the rainy season.

La Lagunilla — oregon “little lake,” successful Spanish — was a distinct, abstracted water from the greater ones successful the Valley of Mexico. That’s wherever she got her name, originally. Today, however, it could easy beryllium described arsenic the Mexican mentation of a flea market, or tianguis.

Tianguis and accepted Mexican markets have, indeed, been astir for a agelong time, particularly successful the area. Archaeological remains show that the present-day Plaza de las Tres Culturas held 1 of the largest markets successful Mesoamerica, dating backmost to 1337. La Lagunilla market, however, is not arsenic past arsenic the ‘little lake’ aft which she was named.

Underground ruins suggest La Lagunilla was established arsenic a residential and working-class vicinity astir the 16th century. At that time, the country was “used to person and unload canoes arriving astatine the elephantine and celebrated Tlatelolco market, conscionable to the westbound (of the area).”

Once the Tlatelolco marketplace dissolved, merchants migrated to this place, close successful the vicinity of their erstwhile workplace. Impressively enough, La Lagunilla continued to person merchant canoes and trajineras until the aboriginal 20th century. In the 1950s, however, the past water was artificially dried up, and the past merchant families moved successful to recovered their ain residential neighborhood.

What tin 1 find astatine La Lagunilla market?

Everything from Baroque cherubs to entire, second-hand surviving country sets is connected merchantability astatine La Lagunilla marketplace each Sunday morning. (Edgar Negrete Lira/Cuartoscuro)

There is nary authoritative country oregon quadrate footage that defines La Lagunilla. In fact, determination are parts wherever the barrio bravo of Tepito and the antiques marketplace not lone adjoin, but besides merge and blend into 1 another.

However, what locals often notation to arsenic Mercado de la Lagunilla is bordered by Avenida Paseo de la Reforma, República del Perú and Tenochtitlán (of course, Tenochtitlán) streets, successful the Guerrero vicinity of Mexico City. On a Sunday morning, 1 tin easy instrumentality the Reforma way connected a motorcycle and get determination successful 30-40 minutes. One artifact eastbound of the monument to José de San Martín, connected Paseo de la Reforma, you’ll find the bosom of this Sunday flea market.

To date, per La Jornada newspaper, La Lagunilla marketplace houses implicit 5,000 stands, with astir 17,000 radical earning a surviving from the Sunday market. On a regular weekend, merchants successful the country person 100,000 clients from Mexico City and abroad. What precisely tin 1 find astatine the Sunday market? Honestly, the sky’s the limit.

First variation books, lithographs allegedly signed by Leonora Carrington, LP records, Van Beuren desks and mid-century chamber sets: each of this (and really, truthful overmuch more) is disposable astatine La Lagunilla market. Everything and thing that screams antiquities is connected sale. I adjacent retrieve uncovering a Space Age eating country set, which my grandma indispensable person seen astatine a section store erstwhile that benignant was fashionable. You tin besides find Fender bass guitars and jukeboxes from the 1960s, if you’re lucky.

Is it harmless to sojourn La Lagunilla market?

My parent utilized to accidental that adjacent Mexico City natives are foreigners erstwhile it comes to Tepito and its neighboring areas. And it’s true. It is called barrio bravo for a reason, aft all. It is besides “common knowledge” that section merchants instrumentality attraction of their customers, particularly connected Sundays, erstwhile they tin merchantability full surviving country sets — oregon “authentic” Diego Rivera’s — for 12,000 pesos connected average.

There is nary sweetener coating it: Tepito and the surrounding areas tin beryllium precise dangerous. Although determination has been a dense tourism question to the country successful caller years, visitors should not get aft dark. La Lagunilla marketplace is truly a show to beryllium seen, but effort arriving earlier noon — to debar the crowds — and leaving earlier dusk.

It’s a Mexico City classical hack to bargain your furnishings successful La Lagunilla marketplace if you’re yet moving retired and are connected a budget. (Wikimedia Commons/Alejandro Linares García)

Also, effort not to deterioration thing fancy. Sweatpants and a elemental T-shirt volition do. No jewelry, of course, and nary iPhone 18 (or immoderate this year’s exemplary is). All of these warnings could suggest that the La Lagunilla marketplace is not harmless to visit.

This is not the case: again, merchants instrumentality attraction of their customers. However, to sojourn consciously and responsibly, debar diving excessively heavy into the Tepito area. This way, you’ll beryllium capable to absorption on refurnishing your caller CDMX apartment, oregon buying a magnificent Kodak Brownie camera that inactive works.

Andrea Fischer contributes to the features table astatine Mexico News Daily. She has edited and written for National Geographic en Español and Muy Interesante México, and continues to beryllium an advocator for thing that screams science. Or yoga. Or both.