The National Museum of Anthropology

One of the most beautiful places and one of the most visited in Mexico City is the National Museum of Anthropology.

The National Museum of Anthropology is located on the boulevard (Avenida) Paseo de la Reforma and the road (Calzada) Gandhi, in the Polanco Chapultepec in Mexico City.

The program is between 9 am and 7 pm, from Tuesday to Sunday (Monday is closed). The entry is 51-60 pesos, a little more than 3 euros - very cheap.

The museum has 23 permanent exhibit halls divided on two floors situated around a large rectangular courtyard. The entrance has a roof supported by a single column fountain. The National Museum of Anthropology is one of the most comprehensive and impressive (almost 20 acres) in the world. In the 23 salons, contains the world's largest collection of ancient Mexican art and also has ethnographic exhibits about Mexico's present-day indigenous groups. The Mesoamerican cultures displayed include: Teotihuacan, Toltec, Aztec, Mixtec, Zapotec, Olmec, and Mayan cultures.

On the ground floor are located the archaeological artifacts, organized in chronological order. The ethnographic exhibits are on the upper level. The collections from the upper floor includes costumes, utensils and dwellings of the Indians still live in Mexico today.

Starting from the ground floor you will discover the next exhibit halls: Introduction to Anthropology, Sala de Prehistoria, Sala del Periodo Preclasico, Sala Mexica, Sala de Teotihuacan, Sala de Tula, Sala Maya, Sala de Oaxaca, Sala de las Culturas del Golfo de Mexico, Sala de las Culturas de Occidente and Sala de las Culturas de Norte.

The Upper Floor will present you exhibit halls such as: Introduction to Ethnology, Sala Cora-Huichol, Sala Purépecha (Tarascans), Sal Otomí-Pame (Toluca valley, Querétaro) and Sala de Puebla (Otomí, Tepehua, Totonacs, Nahua).

The National Museum of Anthropology was inaugurated on September 17, 1964, by President Adolfo López Mateos, the National Museum of Anthropology presents us a large number of artifacts such as: the Stone of the Sun, giant stone heads of the Olmec civilization, treasures recovered from the Mayan civilization but also a large number of ethnographic elements that describe the Mexican life.

The museum also houses the National Library of Anthropology. The library was founded in 1831 by Lucas Alamean, and she contains more than 300,000 volumes.

For me it was a pleasure to discover the beauty of this place. A very well organized museum. Moving slowly through the halls I discovered the history of those wonderful places and the culture of this beautiful nation. I was pleasantly surprised by the complexity of the museum.

Even if I did't have very much time to visit this museum, I want to tell you that it took me more than an half a day. Unfortunately it was my last day in Mexico and I could't go back to visit this wonderful place in more detail, to discover much more information about these extraordinary cultures.

If you are visiting Mexico City do not miss the chance to visit this museum. It will be a unique place where you can discover a wide variety of informations and a place where you will find a lot of answers to all your questions related to the history of world cultures.

My advice regarding this museum .... Do not miss this landmark!
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