The Hospicio Cabañas was built at the beginning of the 19th century to provide care and shelter for the disadvantaged – orphans, old people, the handicapped and chronic invalids.

Initiated by the Franciscan friar, Tembleque, and built with the local indigenous communities, this hydraulic system is an example of the exchange of influences between the European tradition of Roman hydraulics and traditional Mesoamerican construction techniques, including the use of adobe. The site incorporates the highest single-level arcade ever built in an aqueduct.

The Mayan town of Uxmal, in Yucatán, was founded c. A.D. 700 and had some 25,000 inhabitants. The layout of the buildings, which date from between 700 and 1000, reveals a knowledge of astronomy. The Pyramid of the Soothsayer, as the Spaniards called it, dominates the ceremonial centre, which has well-designed buildings decorated with a profusion of symbolic motifs and sculptures depicting Chaac.

From c. 100 B.C. to A.D. 1300, the Sierra de San Francisco was home to a people who have now disappeared but who left one of the most outstanding collections of rock paintings in the world. They are remarkably well-preserved because of the dry climate and the inaccessibility of the site. Showing human and animal figures and illustrating the relationship between humans and their environment.

Morelia is an example of urban planning which combines the ideas of the Spanish Renaissance with the Mesoamerican experience. More than 200 historic buildings, all in the region's characteristic pink stone, reflect the town's architectural history, revealing a masterly and eclectic blend of the medieval spirit with Renaissance, Baroque and neoclassical elements.

Founded by the Spanish in the early 16th century, Guanajuato became the world's leading silver-extraction centre in the 18th century.

This sacred site was one of the greatest Mayan centres of the Yucatán peninsula. The Maya and Toltec vision of the world and the universe is revealed in their stone monuments and artistic works. The fusion of Mayan construction techniques with new elements from central Mexico make Chichen-Itza one of the most important examples of the Mayan-Toltec civilization in Yucatán.

The holy city of Teotihuacan (the place where the gods were created) it is characterized by the size of its monuments –in particular, the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, laid out on geometric and symbolic principles. As one of the most powerful cultural centres in Mesoamerica, it extended its cultural and artistic influence throughout the region, and even beyond.

The terraces, dams, canals, pyramids and artificial mounds of Monte Albán were carved out of the mountain and are the symbols of a sacred topography. The city of Oaxaca is a good example of Spanish colonial town planning. The solidity and volume of the city's buildings show that they were adapted to the earthquake-prone region in which these architectural gems were constructed.

The House and Studio of architect Luis Barragán represents an outstanding example of the architect’s creative work in the post-Second World War period. Barragán’s work integrated modern and traditional artistic and vernacular currents and elements into a new synthesis, which has been greatly influential, especially in the contemporary design of gardens, plazas and landscapes.