the buildings in the historic center, the basic structure of the Palace suffered deterioration, requiring work to secure the building's foundation and supports, especially on the third floor, the central patio and the Patio of Honor. During this work, the old column bases of the Viceroy Palace were found, two of which were restored where they were found. They also found old cedar rafters with their brackets, which were used to form the foundation of the first floor. Recently, excavations in and next to the National Palace have unearthed parts of Moctezuma's "New Houses", the name of the palaces that Hernán Cortés razed to build what has become the current edifice. Parts of a wall and a basalt floor were found during recent renovations on the building that now houses the Museum of Culture, which adjoins the Palace on its north side. The wall and floor are believed to be part of Casa Denegrida, or the Black House, which Spanish conquerors described as a windowless room painted in black. In here, Moctezuma would meditate on what he was told by professional seers and shamans. It was part of a construction which is thought to have consisted of five interconnected buildings containing the emperor's office, chambers for children and several wives and even a zoo. More excavations are planned. The building's significance On the webpage of past president Ernesto Zedillo, Carlos Fuentes calls the National Palace a "traveling and an immobile construction". Traveling is used in the sense that much of its architectural style is Spanish in origin and symbolized the transplanting of Spanish civilization to the New World. It is immobile in the sense that since Aztec times, this has been the seat of earthly political power, first as the palaces of the Aztec tlatoani, then of the Spanish viceroys, then of Mexican heads of state. Only until very recently, those who held power over Mexico lived here as well as asserted their authority. The building itself represents the Mexican people as a blending of both Spanish and Aztec. The old palace was destroyed to make way for the new, but both were built of the very same stone. According to Zedillo, this represents something that is not quite Aztec, but not quite Spanish either, much like the country itself. These same stones were present during all of Mexico's major historical events and had seen foreign flags fly above them.