Ghost stories of Downtown Mexico City

Mexico City’s historic center

is known globally due to its cultural treasures and its architecture. Within the 9.7 kilometers of this Cultural Heritage of Humanity , declared by Unesco in 1987 , we can also find legends that tell us about and take us to historical moments.

Some of them are widely known and others have been forgotten, but what we can guarantee is that in downtown Mexico City you can find many ghost stories and legends that are part of our historic memory.

These are some of the legends that live in the streets of downtown Mexico City which you can walk with your family or friends to feel their energy and history.

The woman with the horseshoes

The protagonists of this legend are a blacksmith, a priest, and a woman.

It is said that one night when the blacksmith was about to go to sleep, two men of color knocked his door so that he put horseshoes on the priest’s mule who would leave early in the morning for the Hill of Tepeyac . Puzzled, the man accepted the job.

However, the next day the blacksmith went in search of the priest to ask why he had sent the men so late at night , but at the entrance of the priest’s house, he found a woman , who was the housekeeper, with her hands and feet full of blood ; she had been the one whom the blacksmith had put the horseshoes to and not the mule.

The legend says that the woman had been a sinner and two demons had taken her to receive punishment.

This house is located at 100 Perú Street, Lagunilla.

Former Convent of La Concepción

According to the legend , the ghost of a nun haunts the Former Convent of La Concepción . Why? During the 16th Century , María Ávila fell in love with a poor man whom she wanted to marry.

However, her brothers opposed the marriage since the young man’s social status was not the same as theirs. To prevent the marriage, the brothers paid a large amount of money to the man to get away from her.

María’s suffering kept increasing until her brothers took her to the Convent of La Concepción . Nevertheless, the pain never went away and she hung herself from a tree in the convent’s patio.

Since then, it is said that María appears on that same patio. You can visit the convent in 5 Belisario Domínguez Street in Mexico City’s downtown.

7 Venustiano Carranza Street

A legend that also talks about a forbidden love has 7 Venustiano Carranza street as the setting. This is the place where Domingo and Francisca’s love story came to an end.

Domingo proposed to Francisco, who was a Mexica woman, reason why the young man’s mother opposed the marriage and after not being heard by her son she cast a spell on the day of the wedding. With the help of a witch , Domingo’s mother enchanted the couple’s wedding pillow.

Half a year after the wedding, Francisca became ill. Unable to recover, she passed away a time later but her soul was still attached to that of her beloved, to whom she appeared with frequency to warn him about what his mother had done.

Casilda, the arsonist

The legend says that a young woman who loved acting lost her mind due to her calling.

The story takes place in the 16th century with Casilda Baena , whose parents supported to study theater. Her first performance was quite a success and the young woman was remembered by the audience, who noticed weird behaviors in Casilda, but which they let slip away.

One night in a theatrical production, Casilda appeared with a vacant stare and disheveled hair and started to burn down the place while she yelled: “Love is a divine flame, that has deprived me of peace because everything is fire, it subdues and dominates me.”

After the incident, the woman was hospitalized in the Insane Women’s House . The Divine Savior Asylum for Women was located at 9 Donceles Street .

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