Palacio de Bellas Artes

This guide to the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City follows Italian architect Adamo Boari, who arrived in 1904 with a commission from dictator Porfirio Diaz to raise a marble theater for the centennial of independence. It traces what happened when Mexico City's old lakebed proved too soft for his design, and how revolution later emptied the site of workers and money. Boari imported his white marble from Carrara in his native Italy, pairing it with stone from two Mexican quarries.