Which castle became Maximilian and Carlota’s principal residence in Mexico City?

Chapultepec Castle became Maximilian and Carlota’s principal residence in Mexico City.

Chapultepec Castle stands on Chapultepec Hill in Mexico City. The site had served military and residential purposes before Maximilian selected the castle as an imperial residence during the Second Mexican Empire. Maximilian and Carlota connected the castle to the city with a roadway that later became Paseo de la Reforma.

The castle’s history extends far beyond the empire. It later housed Mexico’s military academy and became the site of the National Museum of History. Its elevated position and surviving imperial rooms make it one of Mexico City’s best-known historic landmarks.

Chapultepec Castle is not the battlefield commemorated by Cinco de Mayo. Instead, it is a landmark associated with the monarchy that French intervention helped establish after the 1862 Mexican victory at Puebla.