El Palacio de Bellas Artes

This exhibition has closed, but the building it was about is open every day except Monday.

What the Palacio de Bellas Artes is. The national theatre and the most recognisable building in Mexico City: white Carrara marble outside, begun in 1904 by Adamo Boari in art nouveau and finished in 1934 by Federico Mariscal in art deco, with a Tiffany glass stage curtain depicting the volcanoes. It sinks slowly into the old lakebed, which is why the entrance now sits below street level.

What you can see inside. On the second and third floors, murals by Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros, Tamayo and González Camarena — including Rivera's El hombre controlador del universo, the version he repainted here after the original was destroyed at Rockefeller Center. The Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes runs major temporary exhibitions. The theatre itself hosts the Ballet Folklórico de México and the national orchestras.

Practical notes. Av. Juárez #1, Centro. Metro Bellas Artes, lines 2 and 8. Closed on Mondays. The best view of the dome is from the eighth-floor café of the Sears building opposite.