Chapultepec Castle
The Castillo de Chapultepec (variously translated as "Castle of Chapultepec" or "Chapultepec Palace") is a palace built on top of Chapultepec Hill, located in the middle of Chapultepec Park in Mexico City at a height of 2,325 meters above sea level. The building has been used for several purposes during its history, including Military Academy, Imperial and Presidential mansion, observatory and museum. It currently houses the Mexican National Museum of History.
Colonial Period
In 1785 Viceroy Bernardo de Gálvez ordered the construction of a country house at the highest point of Chapultepec Hill. Lieutenant Colonel of the Spanish Army and engineer Francisco Bambitelli drew up the plan and began the works on August 16 of the same year.
After Bambitelli's departure to Havana Captain Manuel Agustín Mascaró took over the leadership of the project and during his tenure the works proceeded at a rapid pace. Mascaró was accused of building a fortress with the intent of rebelling against the Spanish Crown from there. His sudden death on November 8, 1786 fueled speculation that he may have been poisoned; however no evidence has been found supporting this claim.
Without an engineer in charge, the Crown ordered the building to be auctioned to a price one fifth of the total already spent of the project. After finding no buyers Viceroy Juan Vicente Güermes Pacheco intended the building to house the General Archive of the Kingdom of the New Spain, however that idea was not to prosper either despite of already having a new plan adapted for this purpose.
Alexander von Humboldt visited the site in 1803 and condemned the sale of the palace’s windows by the Royal Treasury as a way of raising funds for the Crown. The building was finally bought in 1806 by the municipal government of Mexico City.
Independence
Chapultepec Castle was abandoned during the Mexican War of Independence (1810 – 1821) and many years later until 1833. On that year it was decreed the building to be the location of the Colegio Militar (Military Academy); as a consequence several structural modifications had to be done, including the addition of the watchtower known as Caballero Alto ("Tall Knight").
On September 12, 1847 the palace was attacked during the Battle of Chapultepec of the Mexican-American War.
Several new rooms were built on the second floor of the palace during the tenure of President Miguel Miramón, who was also alumnus of the Military Academy.
Second Mexican Empire
The palace started to acquire its modern look after Maximilian of Habsburg and his wife Carlota established the Imperial residence there in 1864. The Emperors hired several Austrian, French, Belgian and Mexican architects such as Julius Hofmann, Carl Kaiser, Carlos Schaffer, Eleuterio Méndez and Ramón Rodríguez Arangoity to realize the several projects that rendered the palace into a more inhabitable place. Botanist Wilhelm Knechtel was in charge of creating the aereal garden located in the roof of the building. Moreover, the Emperors brought from Europe several pieces of furniture and many other fine household items and paintings that are still present today.
Modern Era
The building fell into disuse once more after the fall of the Second Mexican Empire in 1867. Almost ten years later, in 1876, a decree established an Astronomical, Meteorological and Magnetic Observatory on the site, which was opened in 1878. However, the observatory was only functional for five years after it was decided to move it to the former residence of the Archbishop in Tacubaya. The reason was to allow the return of the Colegio Militar to the premises as well as transforming the building into the presidential residence.
The palace was subject of several structural changes from 1882 and during the term of President Porfirio Díaz. The other Presidents who made the palace their official residence were Francisco I. Madero, Venustiano Carranza, Álvaro Obregón, Plutarco Elías Calles, Emilio Portes Gil, Pascual Ortiz Rubio and Abelardo Rodríguez.
Finally on February 3, 1939 President Lázaro Cárdenas decreed a law that established Chapultepec Castle as the seat of the National Museum of History (Museo Nacional de Historia) with the collections of the former National Museum of Archaeology, History and Etnography. The museum was opened on September 27, 1944.