Surprised but excited Mexicans filed into the opulent residence of their presidents on Saturday when the new government threw open its doors to the public in a highly symbolic moment.

Before leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was  sworn in Saturday morning, hundreds of Mexicans lined up to be among the first to see formerly private quarters in ‘Los Pinos’, the home of presidents during the last 40 years.

Lopez Obrador, the first leftist in a generation to rule Mexico won a landslide victory in July on a promise to end record violence, purge the government of widespread corruption and to put Mexico’s poor at the top of his agenda.

In his inaugural address,  Obrador had vowed to end the rule of a ‘rapacious’ elite, pledging to bring about a radical rebirth of Mexico which he likened to the independence from Spain and the Mexican Revolution.

Families lounged in the gardens, ran through corridors to peep into offices and rooms and listened to musical ensembles from around the nation that were invited to play.

Although Lopez Obrador has not been totally clear about where he intends to live, Los Pinos which is  located in a section of the capital’s huge Chapultepec Park will be converted into a cultural center.

Recently he said he would likely move from his unassuming home in a middle-class neighborhood into an apartment in the city’s historic center near the National Palace that he will use as presidential office.