Iztacalco

Where the street plan comes from. Iztacalco has been inhabited since pre-Hispanic times and its urban fabric still shows it: the settlement originally sat on an island and grew through chinampa farming, so the old layout of canals is what divides today's barrios. Two buildings stand out: the former convent of San Matías Apóstol and the Capilla de la Santa Cruz.

The festivals. This is a borough that keeps its calendar: the Corpus procession, the Santo Jubileo, the feasts of Santos Reyes, San Sebastián, San Miguel Arcángel and San Francisco de Asís, and the traditional pilgrimages to Guadalupe and to the Señor de Chalma. Each one comes with a brass band, dances, fireworks, fairs, street food and processions or carnival parades —the best moment to see the borough as its residents live it.

And the modern contrast. The same borough holds the city's biggest concert venue, Foro Sol, where the largest shows are staged, and the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, which has hosted the Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix since 2015. On event days the whole area fills up and the metro runs packed: allow extra time and use Line 9 or Line 8 rather than driving.