The Bishop's Palace & The Giant Flag

On a hill in the Centre of the city is the Bishop's palace, no longer occupied it is a relic of Monterrey's past, cannons are still on display around the gardens which are popular amongst the locals who enjoy the romantic views across the city - especially at sunset. The site was in the past the hub of Monterrey's defence with its commanding views over the city, when the Bishop still lived here he was probably the most important man in the city.

Recently at the top of the hill has been placed Monterrey's giant flag, weighing in at 1/4 of a tonne you wouldn't want it to come loose and land on you, the viewing platform around the flag offers the best and most complete view of the city with its 360 degree panorama, the base of the flag pole does carry a warning though - 'in the event of an electrical storm, Run!' it's good advice

The Mexican flag depicts an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its Talons. This is taken from the Aztec legend - "The Aztec people were guided by Huitzilopochtli to seek a place where an eagle landed on a prickly-pear cactus, eating a snake". After hundreds of years of wandering they found the sign on a small swampy island in Lake Texcoco. Their new home which they named Mexico -Tenochtitlan, "In the Moon's navel -Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus". In A.D. 1325 they built a city on the site of the island in the lake; this is now the center or downtown area of Mexico City.

Cerro de las Mitras - named after the headgear that a bishop wears because of its shape - this mountain dominates the western side of the cityView to the south towards Cola de Caballo, Saddle Mountain can be seen clearly in the distanceLooking towards the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain rangeThe city climbs the mountains to the south, reaching up to Chipinque nature reserve - a real treasure of MonterreyStorm over ChipinqueCerro de las Mitras at sunsetLooking towards La Huasteca, where the Santa Catarina river leaves the mountains and enters the cityCerro de la Silla - saddle mountain, in the east of the city it is illuminated by the glow of the setting sunThe setting sun over the viewing platform with Cerro de las Mitras behindThe Bishop's PalaceThe Cannons still on display in the gardens around the Bishop's PalaceThe giant flag sits in the centre of the panoramic viewing platformLa Bandera Gigante (The Giant Flag)

Monterrey from North to West - looking over La Fundidora and the Macro PlazaThe Southerns side of the city from Cerro de la Silla in the west to Cerro de las Mitras in the east. Chipinque is in the centre with hundreds of miles of Sierra Madre mountains behind360 degree panaroma showing the city in its entirety as the sun begins to set behind 'El Cerro de las Mitras'