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UNAM campus tour: murals, lava and the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City
A guide to UNAM's Ciudad Universitaria in Mexico City: the mosaic Central Library, the Rectoría, Las Islas, the Olympic Stadium, the Cultural Centre and how to get there.
The National Autonomous University of Mexico, universally known by its Spanish initials as UNAM, was founded in its modern form in 1910 and traces its roots to the royal university established in Mexico City in 1551. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria ("University City", or simply CU), was built between 1949 and 1952 on a field of ancient lava in the south of the capital. Dozens of Mexican architects and artists worked on it together, and the result, a modernist campus covered in murals, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This guide explains what to see and how the university works.
The shape of Ciudad Universitaria
CU is enormous, roughly 700 hectares, and feels more like a district of the city than a campus. Three zones matter most to a first-time visitor.
- The central campus is the World Heritage core: the Rectoría tower, the Central Library and the older faculties, arranged around a long lawn.
- The Olympic Stadium lies just across Avenida de los Insurgentes, the wide avenue that cuts through the site.
- The University Cultural Centre and the science museum are a couple of kilometres further south, surrounded by a protected reserve of lava-field scrub.
Newer faculties and research institutes fill the land in between. A free internal bus network, the Pumabús, links them all.
The Central Library
The Central Library is the image of UNAM, and one of the most recognisable buildings in Mexico. Its tall block of book stacks is almost windowless, and the architect and painter Juan O'Gorman covered all four sides with a mosaic telling the history of Mexico, from the pre-Hispanic world on one face to the modern university on another. Remarkably, it is made not of glazed tile but of naturally coloured stones that O'Gorman collected from around the country. Walk right around it; each side rewards a few minutes.
The Rectoría and Las Islas
Next to the library stands the Rectoría, the slim administrative tower, with sculptural murals by David Alfaro Siqueiros projecting from its lower walls. More murals are scattered across the nearby faculties, including a large glass-mosaic work by Francisco Eppens on the Faculty of Medicine.
In front stretches the central lawn, dotted with clumps of trees that give it its nickname, Las Islas, "the islands". Students nap, study, rehearse and play football here between classes, and on weekends families from the neighbourhood join them.
The Olympic Stadium
Across Insurgentes, the Estadio Olímpico Universitario rises from the ground like the crater of a low volcano, its sloping walls built of the local lava rock. It opened in 1952, and Diego Rivera began a coloured stone relief over the main entrance. In 1968 it was the principal stadium of the Mexico City Olympic Games. Today it is the home of Pumas, the professional football club that grew out of the university and still wears its blue and gold.
The Cultural Centre, the lava and the gardens
The southern part of CU shows a different side of the university. The University Cultural Centre brings together the Sala Nezahualcóyotl, one of Latin America's best-known concert halls; the MUAC, a museum of contemporary art in a striking glass building; and several theatres and cinemas. The Universum science museum is next door.
A short walk away is the Espacio Escultórico, a great ring of concrete prisms enclosing a patch of raw black lava, made by a group of sculptors in 1979. Around it lies an ecological reserve that protects the unusual plants and animals of the lava field, and the university's botanical garden, with a fine collection of Mexican cacti and agaves, is nearby.
How student life works
UNAM is organised into faculties and schools, and students belong to one of them from the first day. Teaching is in Spanish, and the university has a long-established centre that teaches Spanish language and Mexican culture to foreigners.
Unlike most North American universities, UNAM has no residence halls. Students live with family or rent rooms in nearby neighbourhoods such as Copilco and Coyoacán, and commute by metro and bus. The university's reach goes well beyond CU: it runs other campuses around the metropolitan area, its own high schools, and national institutions including the National Library. All three of Mexico's Nobel laureates studied here.
The neighbourhood: Coyoacán and San Ángel
- Coyoacán: a short ride north-east, a former colonial village of cobbled streets, leafy plazas, markets and cafés, and home to the Frida Kahlo Museum. Timed tickets for the museum often sell out, so look at its official site in advance.
- San Ángel: to the north-west, another old quarter, known for its Saturday art market.
- Copilco: the streets beside the metro station, full of inexpensive lunch counters, photocopy shops and bookstalls serving students.
Visiting the campus
The central campus is open to the public and best seen on a weekday in term time, when it is at its liveliest, or on a quiet Sunday if you mainly want photographs. Museums and concert halls keep their own hours and ticketing. Guided visits are sometimes offered, but arrangements change, so check the university's official pages for current information.
Getting there and around
- By metro: Line 3 serves Copilco, a short walk from the central campus, and ends at Universidad.
- By Metrobús: Line 1 runs down Insurgentes from the central districts, with stops for the central campus and for the Cultural Centre.
- Inside CU: the Pumabús routes are free; distances are too great to cover everything on foot.
- Altitude and sun: Mexico City sits at about 2,240 metres. Carry water, use sun protection, and take the first day gently.
Where families usually base themselves
Coyoacán and San Ángel are the nearest attractive areas. Many visitors prefer Roma or Condesa, further north, which have a direct Metrobús connection down Insurgentes. Our guide to where to stay in Mexico City compares the main neighbourhoods.
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