Note 270 — Chapter V

The palace has crumbled into ruins, and the spot is now only remarkable for its natural beauty and its historic associations. “It was the capital,” says Madame de Calderon, “of the Tlahuica nation, and, after the Conquest, Cortés built here a splendid palace, a church, and a convent for Franciscans, believing that he had laid the foundation of a great city.... It is, however, a place of little importance, though so favored by nature; and the Conqueror’s palace is a half-ruined barrack, though a most picturesque object, standing on a hill, behind which starts up the great white volcano.” Life in Mexico, vol. ii. let. 31. [The beautiful church of San Francisco, now the parish church, was constructed by Cortés, and enriched with jewels and sacred vessels by his wife, manifesting, says Alaman, the good taste and the piety of the marquis and the marchioness,—as, in consequence of their being the first and at that time the only persons who bore the title in Mexico, they were styled and always subscribed themselves. Disertaciones históricas, tom. ii. p. 35.]