National Museum Of Anthropology And History Article Index for
National 		Shopping
Museo 		Website Links For
Museo 		 

Information About

National Museum Of Anthropology And History
SHOPPER'S DELIGHT
 
Shop For:  
Department
Price Minimum:
Price Maximum:
      



Stone Of The Sun on display in the museum.]]

).]]
exhibit inside the Maya Room.]]

The Museo Nacional de Antropología or '''National Museum of Anthropology''' is located in Chapultepec Park , Mexico City , D.F. , Mexico .
It contains significant Anthropological finds from the nation of Mexico such as the Aztec Calendar Stone and the 16th-century Aztec statue of Xochipilli .


ARCHITECTURE

Designed in 1963 by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, helped by Ricardo de Robina, Jorge Campuzano and Rafael Mijares, it has an impressive architecture with exhibition halls surrounding a patio with a small pond and a vast square concrete umbrella supported by a single slender pillar around which splashes an artificial cascade. The halls are ringed by gardens, many of which contain outdoor exhibits. The museum has 23 rooms for exhibits and covers an area of 79,700 square meters.


EXHIBITS


Opened in 1964 , by President Adolfo López Mateos , the museum has many fascinating exhibits, such as the Aztec calendar stone, giant stone Olmec heads from the jungles of Tabasco and Veracruz, treasures recovered from the sacred Mayan well in Chichen Itza, a replica of Lord Pacal's Mayan tomb from Palenque and ethnological displays of rural Mexican life as it is still lived today. It also has a very good model of the location and layout of Tenochtitlan , which puts present-day Mexico City in perspective.


AMENITIES

In the entrance hall is a gift shop that sells postcards, souvenirs, books in several languages on Mexican culture, archeology and history, and detailed guides to the museum providing full descriptions of most of the important pieces. Regular guided tours in Spanish are free, or you can buy tickets for tours in English, French or German. Every hall has at least one outstanding feature, with the Aztec and the Maya rooms being the highlights. There is a restaurant downstairs behind the hall devoted to the cultures of the north and west.


VISITING

Many tourists consider this to be the best museum in Mexico City . Allow at least four to five hours to visit, with a seven to eight hour visit being optimal. The museum is most crowded on Sundays, and if you plan to take pictures, use a camera with the ability to compensate for low light because no flash is permitted.


EXTERNAL LINK