The National Museum of Anthropology must rate as one of the great museums in the world and as far as Mexican anthropology is concerned, it is unsurpassed. The building itself is a masterpiece from the late 1960s. It has 26 exhibition rooms arranged on two floors around a huge square. Part of the square is covered by a roof, which seems to be suspended in the air with a waterfall rushing down a huge column, which protrudes through a hole in the middle of the roof.
The first halls give an introduction to anthropology in general and then move to Mexico specific. The halls on
Teotihuacan, the Olmecs, and Tula have impressive displays, but the little information available is only in Spanish and even this is so limited that it is hard to make sense out of it all without prior knowledge. Also, some of the displays are copies while others -- even very large ones -- are original, but no explanation is given.
The largest hall is dedicated to the Mexica -- see separate
Mexica Exhibitions entry.
Further halls cover the inhabitants of northern Mexico, but these are generally of lesser interest compared to the other more famous civilizations. The exhibitions on the Mayas were closed for renovation. The second floor of the museum is dedicated to contemporary life of the indigenous people of Mexico.
A restaurant serving both Mexican and American style food is available but mostly frequented by foreigners -- the average Mexican visitor (correctly) expects a markup. We only had lemonade, but the other patrons generally seemed satisfied with the food, although I personally won’t time my visit to have a meal there.
The museum is huge and civilization fatigue sets in after a while. It may be best to select a few halls in advance rather than to rush through trying to see it all and in the end not having a clue if the Atlantes were Mayan or Aztec.** An audio guide (US$6) may be a sensible option for those with limited Spanish.
Entry to the museum is a bargain at Pesos 37 (about $3.50). On Sundays the museum is free for Mexican citizens -- official documents are needed as proof and actually verified -- so expect more families and school children doing assignments. On Sundays, the museum is busy but not unpleasantly so -- tour groups on guided tours rushing behind guides with little regard to other visitors are more of a nuisance.
On Sundays, there are always some stalls set up in front of the museum selling drinks, snacks and a lot of plastic junk and arts of lesser quality. Of more interests are the conchero dancers and the voladores pole ceremony – still considered more a religious ceremony rather than entertainment, but the money collectors do come by around halfway through the display.
(** It was Toltec!)
Continue to Mexica Exhbitions