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Which city in the world has more museums than any other city? (Hint – it’s not Paris.)
It’s Mexico City.
Mexico City museums
This may come as a surprise, given all the history and culture in Europe. But whether Mexico City does indeed have the most number of museums is irrelevant.
The fact is there’s an astounding collection of top-notch Mexico city museums – more than 150 museums!
We thought we’d seen some pretty quirky museums in Mexico’s colonial cities – like the Mummy Museum (where death is on display) in Guanajuato and the whimsical Toy Museum in San Miguel de Allende.
In Mexico City, however, there are museums to suit every intellectual fancy, from shoe to cartoon museums – even a pen museum. But the grand-daddy of all Mexico City museums is the world-class National Museum of Anthropology (Museo Nacional de Antropologia).
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Highlights of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City
Very modern in design, the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City tells the story of Mexico’s pre-Columbian past, from before the Mayan civilization through to the Aztecs and the Spanish conquest.
Built around a courtyard, it’s huge (20 acres in size) and has 23 exhibit halls. The most famous exhibit is the 24-ton Aztec Calendar or “Sun Stone” (almost 12 feet in diameter).
We could only allow a half-day here. (There was much more we also wanted to see in Mexico City!)
So we concentrated our visit on the most significant displays – the Teotihuacan, Maya and Aztec exhibit halls.
It was particularly interesting to learn more about the difference between the Aztec and Maya civilizations.
Mayans vs Aztecs
- The Mayans: They came first, starting around 2,500 B.C. They lived mainly in the Yucatan Peninsula and flourished between 200 and 900 A.D (building the cities of Tulum, Coba and Chichen Itza).
- The Aztecs: They came later and founded Mexico City (then known as Tenochtitlan) on an island on Lake Texcoco in 1325 A.D. The Spanish eventually conquered them in 1521.
Here are a few photos of the cultural exhibits we saw:
If you visit Mexico City, don’t miss the National Museum of Anthropology – it’s one of the best museums we’ve seen.
Visiting the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City
- Hours: The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City is open every day, except Monday, from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm.
- Cost: 63 MX pesos (or about $5 USD).
- Tip: If time is short, head directly to the Teotihuacan, Maya and Aztec exhibit halls.
I have never been to Mexico, but whenever I will go there the National Museum of Anthropology will be a top place to go. Thank you very much for the inspiring photos!
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I’ve never been to Mexico City (other than changing flights), but I never would have guessed it has so many museums! When I do go I’ll plan lots of time there. I’m impressed by your ability to get such good pictures in a museum; mine rarely come out good!
Gee, thanks for the photo appreciation! Let us tell you, we took HUNDREDS of pics inside the museum. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time afterwards going delete, delete, delete.
I’ve been in DF for a few months now and for some crazy reason not checked the Anthropology museum out yet, thanks for the post, I love the Aztec and Mayan culture and you’ve inspired me to take a trip to the museum. Thank you!
Mexico City is a fascinating place and you’re right about all the museums (most all in Chapultepek Park). We missed this park, I had visited with my mom and she had more of an interest in the Modern Art musuem next door. I want to go back to Mexico City and the Anthropology museum is for sure on my list.
Hope you also took the hop on/hop off bus? I have to admit I had many misconceptions about the city and was blown away by all the modern architecture and large avenues.
Frank (bbqboy)
It’s hard to see all the top museums in Mexico City in a limited visit :-). There are a couple of new art museums we want to see next. And, no, we didn’t take the hop on/hop off bus – but we should have! We ended up walking and walking and walking everywhere. We had very tired feet at the end of most days :-).
We may be visiting Mexico this year so this museum will be top of our list – amazing how advanced the Mayan civilization was
This museum is definitely worth a visit. Hopefully you can also visit one of Mexico’s colonial towns too – like Guanajuato or San Miguel de Allende :-).
Thanks for this introduction to the National Museum of Anthropology. Would love to visit!