Plaza Mariana

Inaugurated in 2010, the religious center of Plaza Mariana opened its doors to welcome circa 20 million visitors annually. The $52 million development designed by FR-EE transforms and revitalizes the area around the Basilica of Guadalupe in the northern part of Mexico City and draws up to 8 million people on pilgrimage every December, making it second to the Vatican as the most popular Catholic attraction in the world. The building is divided into four main functions connected by a sky-lit cross corridor: the Evangelical Center with an auditorium for 850 people, a Guadalupe Museum, a 140,000 ft2 (13,000 m2) naturally lit and ventilated market place centralizing over 1,000 vendors and a subterranean columbarium for more than 120,000 burial urns.