Casa de los Marqueses de Aguas Claras

This splendid old mansion, on the northwest side of the plaza de Catedral, was built during the 16th century by Governor General Gonzalo Pérez de Angulo and has since been added to by subsequent owners. Today a café occupies the portico, while the inner courtyard, with its fountain and grand piano amid lush palms and clinging vines, houses the Restaurante La Fuente del Patio. The restaurant extends upstairs, where members of the middle classes once dwelled in apartments. Sunlight pouring in through stained-glass mediopuntos saturates the floors with shifting fans of red and blue.