Torre Latinoamericana Mexico City: Observation Deck and Visit Tips
The Torre Latinoamericana has a public observation deck on its 44th floor, at Francisco I. Madero Avenue 1. History, what to see and where to check hours.
The Torre Latinoamericana is a 44-floor skyscraper in downtown Mexico City with a public observation deck on its top floor, the highest in the city according to Wikipedia. People go for the view over the historic center and for a building with a well-known earthquake record. The tower stands at Francisco I. Madero Avenue 1 in the Cuauhtémoc borough.
Hours and ticket prices are not listed in the official pages used for this guide, so confirm both with the tower before you go. The tower’s website, listed on Wikipedia as miradortorrelatino.com, is the place to check.
What is the Torre Latinoamericana?
The Mexico City tourism site calls it the most popular viewing platform among the few in the city, and says visitors from abroad and longtime residents both come up. The building is 166 meters tall to its architectural height, and 182 meters to its tip. Wikipedia lists a floor count of 44 and 7 elevators.
Construction began in 1948 and finished in 1956. The tower opened on April 30, 1956. It was built as headquarters for the insurance company La Latinoamericana Seguros, which is where the name comes from. The company took the 4th to 8th floors and the rest of the office space was leased out.
How tall is it, and when was it the tallest?
The two sources differ on this. The tourism site says the tower was the tallest in the city from 1956 until 1982, when the Pemex Tower opened, and then, in another passage, says it held that status until 1972, when the World Trade Center was completed. Wikipedia says it was Mexico’s tallest completed building from 1956 until 1982, when the 214-meter Torre Ejecutiva Pemex was completed. It adds that the structure of the Hotel de México, now the WTC Mexico City, had passed it a decade earlier but was not finished until 1994.
Why is it known for surviving earthquakes?
Mexico City sits on muddy soil in an active seismic zone, and the tower was designed for it. Wikipedia says the design uses a steel frame and deep piles, and that the engineers ran soil mechanics studies on the site before building. The tourism site describes it as the first skyscraper successfully built in a highly active seismic zone.
According to Wikipedia, the tower withstood the magnitude 7.9 earthquake of 1957 and received the American Institute of Steel Construction Award of Merit. It also withstood the magnitude 8.1 earthquake of Sept. 19, 1985, which destroyed many downtown buildings. Wikipedia describes it as a symbol of safety in Mexico City.
What is inside the tower?
The tourism site lists the Museo del Bicentenario, the Miralto restaurant, permanent and temporary exhibition space, a café and the viewing platform among the tower’s current occupants. Wikipedia says the observation deck is on the 44th floor.
The tower marked its 50th anniversary in 2006. A ceremony on April 30, 2006 included the reopening of the remodeled 37th to 44th floors, a site museum and a remodeled Mirador, or observation deck, designed by architect Palle Seiersen Frost.
Ownership is shared between La Latinoamericana Seguros and Inmobiliaria Torre Latinoamericana, a real estate firm. In 2002, Telcel and Banco Inbursa bought seven of the 44 floors. The tower also holds the FM transmission facilities for Radio Fórmula’s two Mexico City stations, XERFR-FM 103.3 and XEDF-FM 104.1.
What stood on this site before?
Wikipedia says the tower was built where Moctezuma II once kept a private zoo. After the Spanish conquest the Convent of San Francisco was built there, and the monastery was later dissolved. The insurance company had occupied a smaller building on the same spot, and in 1947 it moved to a nearby office while the tower went up.
How do you get there and what is nearby?
The tower is on Francisco I. Madero Avenue, a street in Centro Histórico. The tourism site places it on its walking route from Alameda Central along Madero, between Palacio de Bellas Artes and the Atrio y Templo de San Francisco (the churchyard and temple of San Francisco). Palacio de Bellas Artes is the city’s landmark for culture and the performing arts, and the site describes the temple as one of the oldest places on Madero, reachable only through a remaining side chapel.
The same neighborhood is a good base for other visits. Our guide to the best art museums in Mexico City covers several. Farther out are Chapultepec Castle and the National Museum of Anthropology.
Tips for visiting
- Check opening hours and ticket prices on the tower’s own website, since the sources do not give them.
- The deck is on the 44th floor, and the building has 7 elevators.
- The tourism site lists the Miralto restaurant, a café and the Museo del Bicentenario in the building.
- Views across downtown include the Plaza de la Constitución, the Zócalo, which Wikipedia’s gallery shows from the tower.
- The exterior is a historical monument, so its look cannot be altered, though Wikipedia says a facade remodel with new materials is planned.
Quick answers
Is the Torre Latinoamericana still the tallest building in Mexico City?
No. Wikipedia says the 214-meter Torre Ejecutiva Pemex passed it in 1982, and the tourism site mentions the Pemex Tower as well. The tower stands at 166 meters, or 182 meters to its tip.
Did the tower survive the 1985 earthquake?
Wikipedia says it withstood the magnitude 8.1 earthquake of Sept. 19, 1985 without damage, while several other downtown structures were damaged.
Has the tower appeared in films?
Wikipedia lists appearances in Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, Alfonso Cuarón’s Sólo con tu pareja, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros and Spectre (2015).
Checked against official sources in November 2026. Hours, prices and rules change: confirm on the official page before you go or apply.
