Museo Nacional de Antropología

The Museo Nacional de Antropología (MNA, or National Museum of Anthropology) is a national museum of Mexico. Located within Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, the museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from the pre-Columbian heritage of Mexico, such as the Piedra del Sol (Aztec calendar stone) and the 16th-century Aztec statue of Xochipilli.

Architecture

Designed in 1963 by Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, Jorge Campuzano and Rafael Mijares, it has an impressive architecture with exhibition halls surrounding a patio with a huge pond and a vast square concrete umbrella supported by a single slender pillar (known as "el paraguas", Spanish for "the umbrella") 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 (almost 8 hectares) or 857,890 square feet (almost 20 acres).

Exhibits

Opened in 1964 by President Adolfo López Mateos, the museum has a number of significant exhibits, such as the Stone of the Sun (depicted on the right), giant stone heads of the Olmec civilization that were found in the jungles of Tabasco and Veracruz, treasures recovered from the Maya civilization, the Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza, a replica of the sarcophagal lid from Pacal's tomb at Palenque and ethnological displays of contemporary rural Mexican life. It also has a model of the location and layout of the former Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, the site of which is now occupied by the central area of modern-day Mexico City itself.

The museum also hosts visiting exhibits, generally focusing on other of the world's great cultures. Past exhibits have focused on Persia, Greece, China, Egypt & Spain.

Name

Stone of the Sun on display in the museum.]]

It is a common misconception, even among Mexicans, that the museum's full name is the National Museum of Anthropology and History. Its official name is simply the National Museum of Anthropology. There is another corporation, the National Museum of History which is located in the nearby Chapultepec Castle, but it is a different museum altogether. The former focuses on pre-Columbian Mexico and modern day Mexican Ethnography. The latter focuses on the Viceroyalty of New Spain and its progress towards modern Mexico, up to the 20th Century.

However, the official administrative body that manages both museums (and many other national and regional museums) is the National Institute of Anthropology and History (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia).

See also

Doris Heyden

External links

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Eduardo Castro
3 February 2016
This is one of my favorite museums in the world, and I have been in a lot of museums around Brazil, USA and Europe. Try the near Starbucks at the park, they have a gorgeous environment for a coffee!
Luci
5 December 2014
Must. But start With the mayas which is the most important part in the museum, I recommend this because the museum is huge and you don't want to miss the best of it/
Julia Moreno Perri
23 July 2017
One of the best museums I've visited ever! Each section contains info that ties in to history from all parts of Mexico. Start with the North, then Central & so on. Make it a several day excursion.
Salvador
23 March 2016
If you only visit one museum while in Mexico, make sure it is this one. Amazing exhibits, but be sure to set an entire day aside if you want to enjoy it fully.
P. D.
26 November 2021
Incredible. I don't usually rush for anthropology museums, but this is so well done. It's emotional to see the arc of human history so thoroughly presented. And the building is awesome in its impact.
Jon hoffman
5 February 2017
Don't miss the outdoor garden in back of the Mayan gallery
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Map
0.2km from Paseo de la Reforma, Bosque de Chapultepec I, Miguel Hidalgo, 11100 Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico Get directions
Tue-Sun 9:00 AM–7:00 PM

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