Casco de Santo Tomás, Educational complex in Miguel Hidalgo district, Mexico City, Mexico

Casco de Santo Tomás is the site of the Unidad Profesional "Lázaro Cárdenas" of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, bordered by Circuito Interior Avenida Instituto Técnico Industrial and Calzada México-Tacuba. A long white sign with the IPN coat of arms and the words "INSTITUTO POLITÉC" and "UNIDAD PROFESIONAL" hangs above a low wall and shrubs, with a pale multi-story building behind. The grounds hold schools such as the Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, the Escuela Superior de Medicina and Canal Once, plus practice fields for the Águilas Blancas and Búhos American football teams.

The area was originally Tlaxpana territory under Tacuba rule before becoming a hacienda established by Hernán Cortés following the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. The transformation into an educational institution occurred much later when the Polytechnic Institute relocated and developed its major campus there.

The name recalls Hernán Cortés, who planted an orchard here dedicated to Saint Thomas and built a chapel and a leprosy hospital named for Saint Lazarus. The site also keeps the memory of 1968 and of the 10 June 1971 Corpus Christi day, when students were attacked here. Today the Águilas Blancas and Búhos American football teams train on its fields.

The campus is bounded by the Circuito Interior Avenida Instituto Técnico Industrial and the Calzada México-Tacuba, in the Santo Tomás and Tlatilco colonias. The grounds are large and hold separate schools, centres and sports fields, so fix your destination building before arriving. The Canal Once television station and the Águilas Blancas and Búhos American football training fields are among the facilities on site.

The name Casco de Santo Tomás comes from the Huerta de Santo Tomás, the orchard Hernán Cortés planted here because of his devotion to Saint Thomas. Nuño de Guzmán had Cortés's chapel and leper hospital of San Lázaro demolished, claiming the Chapultepec–Tacuba aqueduct was being contaminated as it crossed the orchard; in fact he wanted the land for a country house.