The Palace of Cortés stands on the main plaza of Cuernavaca, built between 1526 and 1535 on the foundations of an Aztec pyramid that Hernán Cortés deliberately demolished. It is one of the oldest surviving colonial buildings in mainland America. The heavy fortified exterior gives way inside to an open gallery displaying Diego Rivera's 1930 mural cycle depicting the conquest of Mexico and Morelos — the panels are among Rivera's most politically charged work, commissioned by the US ambassador Dwight Morrow and painted directly above the palace of the man who carried out the conquest.
The building now houses the Museo Regional Cuauhnáhuac, with pre-Columbian artefacts, colonial-era objects, and the history of the state of Morelos through to the Revolution. The rooftop terrace has good views over the town.