CultureCosmovitral Botanical GardenToluca

In the heart of the city of Toluca, the state capital of Mexico, stands a unique art nouveau style building whose wrought iron structure and large glass windows housed between 1910 and 1975 the 16 de September Municipal Market: the Cosmovitral- Botanical Garden.

When closing the market, government officials decided to turn the space into a botanical garden, which opened its doors on July 5, 1980, and transformed the windows at Cosmovitral into an extraordinary work of art that was finished in 1990 with the placement stained glass.

The Botanical Garden extends over an area of 5,000 m2 of which 3,500 is occupied by about 400 species of plants, trees and shrubs from the State of Mexico and around the world. In the midst of the garden is a bust in honor Eizi Matuda, an explorer and Japanese botanist for 28 years that was an Herbalist in the State of Mexico. This monumental work contains more than 6,000 species of plants discovered and classified by this distinguished scientist.

The Cosmovitral has the most important stained glass built in the 20th century, one of the most relevant contributions to international contemporary art, and experts say the world’s largest stained glass! Created by master Leopoldo Flores Valdes, this monumental work required the participation of a group of nearly 100 artisans for the production of lead, over 40 tons of blown glass, 28 different colors of glass and over 70 tons of metallic structure.

Through its 71 windows, including the vitroplafón, the Cosmovitral addresses the relationship between man and the universe, the cycles of life and the dualities and antagonisms of the universe.

Guided tours on the plastic work (approx. 1 hour).

Hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00a.m. to 6:00p.m.

Admission: Adults $10.00 pesos. Children: $5.00 pesos.