*Location:

   Plaza del Carillón
   Instituto Politécnico Nacional
   ESIME Zacatenco
   Av. Manuel de Anda y Barredo
   Mexico, Distrito Federale, Mexico
   LL: N 19.49984, W 99.13676

   (1958-68):
     Casco de Santo Tomás
   (1954): Commercial Exposition

Site locator map

*Contact:

   Instituto Politécnico Nacional
   C.P.07738
   Ciudad de México
   T: 55 57 29 60 00 / 55 57 29 63 00
   W: www.ipn.mx

*Schedule:

   (unknown)

*Remarks:

   Bells cast 1952; put in storage 1968,
   from which some were stolen by 1989.
   Rehabilitated in Dec.2009, with
   locally cast bells to replace those
   stolen and to extend range.

*Technical data:

   Electric-automatic carillon of 48 bells
   Pitch of heaviest bell is D# in the middle octave
   Keyboard range:     ----  /    ----  
   Transposition is not applicable
   There are two missing bass semitones
   The instrument was enlarged in 2009
     with bells made by an unknown maker
   Prior history:
     In 1952, the instrument was begun with 42 bells
       by Petit & Fritsen   
       Keyboard range was:     C G   /    C G   
       Transposition was up  3 semitone(s), i.e., from C to D#
   No auxiliary mechanisms known
   Tower details not available
   Year of latest technical information source is 2010

The Institute's Website (English version) does not have any information about these bells, or where they might be located on this campus.  However, the Spanish version contains many PDF documents which refer to the "Plaza del Carillón", and one contains an article about the construction and dedication of this place.  Unfortunately, neither version has any campus maps.

An investigative article (in Spanish) recounts the original gift of the instrument, its early history, its deactivation, and attempts to resurrect it as an electric-action instrument (including the casting of new bells to replace those lost and to extend the range to four octaves).

Where this work lies in the sequence of output of the Petit & Fritsen bellfoundry, in this region and in the world.

Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by pitch (weight).
Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by size (number of bells).
Ranking among all North American non-traditional carillons by year of completion.

Index to all tower bell instruments in Mexico.

   This page was built from the database on  2-Mar-25
   based on textual data last updated on 2025/01/15
   and on technical data last updated on 2024/02/07