Chapultepec Castle

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list by Massao Ikawa

Chapultepec Castle (Spanish: Castillo de Chapultepec) is located on top of Chapultepec Hill. The name Chapultepec stems from the Náhuatl word chapoltepēc which means "at the grasshopper's hill". It is located in the middle of Chapultepec Park in Mexico City at a height of 2,325 meters (7,628 ft) above sea level. The site of the hill was a sacred place for Aztecs, and the buildings atop it have served several purposes during its history, including that of Military Academy, Imperial residence, Presidential home, observatory, and presently, the Museo Nacional de Historia.

It is one of only two Royal Castles in the Americas, as well as the only one in North America that was used to house sovereigns: the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I, and his consort Empress Carlota, during the Second Mexican Empire.