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.

The center of Mexica religious and political life, the extraordinary remains of Templo Mayor stand in the heart of Mexico City. Dedicated to Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, its treasures include a wall of skulls altar, the House of the Eagles, and a monolithic sculpture of the goddess Coyolxauhqui.

The Xitle volcano of the Ajusco range erupted in about 250 AD, spewing out lava that covered up much of the Valley of Mexico’s first major city, one which had existed for a thousand years with its unique truncated cone pyramids. Today we can still marvel at what remains.

The slopes of the hill where the hacienda was located had been inhabited from the earliest times, and the settlement grew in importance as the site of New Fire ceremonies, believed to revive the sun at the end of the cycle. It was celebrated every 52 years with ceremonies held in 1351, 1403, 1455 and 1507. The fall of Tenochtitlan prevented the celebration of the fifth event.

One of the most ancient and prosperous cities in the Valley of Mexico, Cuicuilco was lost after the eruption of the Xitle volcano in the third century AD. The remains bear witness to the remarkable development of the area, with objects including works of sculpture, pottery, offerings, daily utensils, garments and religious artefacts.

Mexico’s most emblematic museum, and one of the world’s finest, contains an astoundingly rich archeological collection from the country’s numerous indigenous communities. A truly priceless treasure.

This sixteenth-century religious building, the scene of the battles of the Mexican-American War of 1847, contains displays and explanations of Mexico’s complex nineteenth-century history and its conflicts with Spain, France, and the United States. Exhibits include pre-Hispanic artefacts from the time of Huitzilopochco’s rule and the early years of the vice-regal period.