Un espacio entre la religión y la diversión: El Paseo de Las Cadenas (1840-1860)

Abstract

This article studies the Paseo de las Cadenas in Mexico City as a representative example of the way in which residual spaces become public. The space lying between the main square and the Cathedral atrium was one such space that linked two other spaces, one public and one private. Residual spaces become public as a result of their collective use and progressive appropriation by people in their everyday lives which transform them into meeting places and sites of collective expression and social and cultural diversity. Between 1840 and 1860 such collective use transformed a residual space into a public promenade where not only relations between the inhabitants of the city but also, at the politico-historical level, those between the civil and religious powers were instantiated. The history of this paseo may serve as a key to unlocking that of the city as a whole.