In 1950, when Luis Buñuel shot his classic film about street children, Los olvidados, his principal location was a tiny plaza in the northeast corner of the Colonia Roma known as La Romita. The area's reputation as a tough little barrio preceded the shooting. According to folklore, criminals would go into the Templo de Santa Maria de la Natividad, the church of La Romita's plaza, and pray that "the lord of the hanged" would save them from prosecution.

In the 1960s, the chaplain of the house of worship had its doorway changed, claiming that the existing one looked like the portal to a cheap cantina. Next to the church is a cultural center. Although the plaza and its surrounding streets have resisted the gentrification of much of the Colonia Roma, it is a much safer area than its reputation would suggest.

Mural around the corner from the plaza.