The thousand-year-old cultures of the desert: unexpected production links between the arid land and the sea. An inspired building that won a top international prize for architecture.

An important religious and mission complex in Baja California, it is one of eighteen established by the Mexican Province of the Company of Jesus, to teach, evangelize and protect the ethnic groups in the region from sins. This lasted until all Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish empire in…

The monuments at Teotihuacan were once decorated with colourful murals. Samples of these are to be found in this museum, together with an explanation of the techniques used and other related objects. There is also a provisional explanation of the script.

This former monastery—built with stones from the pre-Hispanic temple—houses a water cistern with fragments of the oldest mural paintings of New Spain, portraying the daily life of the conquered people. It also contains remains of the pre-Hispanic city.

Located in a former federal barracks built by Abelardo L. Rodríguez in the 1920s and restored and refurbished as a museum in 2004. The exhibition comprises pieces belonging to native peoples including the Kumiai, Pai pai and Cucapá, and explains their cultures, legends and traditions. There is…

The house where Don Benito Juárez lived when he came to Guelatao, under the tutelage of Antonio Salanueva, and where he started as a servant, progressing to apprentice bookbinder, attorney and eventually governor. The museum brings together documents and personal objects about the great Mexican…

A rare pyramid which still has a complete great staircase and a temple on top. The museum tells the story of an important Huastec city which was influenced by the Toltecs and Mexica. It has an attractive collection of sculptures of the rain god Tlaloc and the corn god Xipe Totec.

Finest example of the Chalchihuite Culture. Possibly founded by priests emigrated from Teotihuacan to the plains of Zacatecas, the museum houses a rich collection of finely made instruments, jewellery, figures and offerings, including the symbol of the eagle and the serpent.

The Mixtec Lord 8 Deer Jaguar Claw ruled over a vast area of the present-day coast of Oaxaca. His memory is preserved in this museum, close to Huatulco. The displays features terracotta figures dating back 2,500 years, pounders for making amate paper, polychrome pottery, green stone objects and…

A superb display of the Cacaxtla murals including the battle scene and the Jaguar Man, with information on how they were painted, as well as archaeological finds telling the impressive story of the Lords of Cacaxtla and their warlike people, inheritors of Teotihuacan and Cholula, and their gods…

A new museum displaying one of the most ancient urban settlements: the most extensive and populous in Mesoamerica and a great exporter of obsidian. It has numerous intricate streets, plazas and walls, many ballcourts and a religion which extolled self-sacrifice.

The city of the "Fat Cacique" was allied with the Spaniards against the Mexica. This small museum, surrounded by abundant coastal flora and fauna, displays the Totonac culture, including the remains of defensive walls, the gods of the underworld, mural painting, everyday utensils and figurines…