Metro San Juan de Letrán

Metro San Juan de Letrán is among those stations which really should be visited by more international visitors. It simply feels like other big world-city Metros, a bit like Metro Allende on Line 2. Even the station logo, a depiction of the Torre Latinoamericana, just up the street, seems of some denser urban area.

• The station was designed, along with the Victoria Centenario Plaza building on the southbound side, by Architect Alberto Kalach. He’s best-known today for the Vasconcelos Library, and for early work on the FARO de Oriente in Iztapalapa. The building, here, was completed in 2007.
• This part of Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas used to be named for one of the five patriarchal basilicas in Rome. The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome. And here, in the Metro station, the name lives on.

Some of the longest-lived Mexico City residents still recall these older names for Eje Central – including the Avenida Santa Maria la Redonda, north of this section. To the south was the Avenida Niño Perdido.

With just two platforms, there are four staircases on either side of the station. The northbound exits lead to the Centro Histórico, and the famous El Moro chocolate shop.

Southbound exits lead to a modern looking mini-mall, and the Moyotlan (west) side of Centro Histórico. In short, both sides put disembarking passengers in the center of a lot of City action. Importantly, to continue north or south on Eje Central, passengers should transfer here to the Trolebús lines (Line A) which run on both sides of the avenue.

For sites of interest in the area (there are many), click the links included in this article. Metro San Juan de Letrán can feel like you’re finally emerging into the densest part of Mexico City. In fact, you probably are. It’s definitely among the oldest parts of the city, and worth a long look around.