The Miracle of Visiting the National Museum of Anthropology

It will be 60 years old this September

The National Museum of Anthropology, is the most important museum in Mexico and precisely on September 17, 2024 it will be 60 years since its inauguration, in the precinct located on Av. Reforma in Mexico City, it is also the most visited museum in Mexico, in my tourist guide I list it as a must visit in Mexico City and even a must visit of life, a cultural destination for all those who enjoy learning about cultures of the world,museums, history, art, etc.

The Mesoamerican national collection has its antecedents in the XVIII century, when Mexico still belonged to the Spanish crown, we have great sculptures discovered at the end of this century such as the famous Aztec Calendar and the most powerful sculpture The Coatlicue, there was not yet an enclosure where to put these monumental pieces, so the calendar was placed next to the Metropolitan Cathedral and the Coatlicue inside a religious enclosure. It was also in this century when the Mayan explorations began due to the great curiosity of the Europeans for the ancient cultures, such as the Egyptians, Greeks, etc.

Aztec Calendar at the Metropolitan Cathedral

Coatlicue monolith at the corner of the Catholic University 

It would be until 1825 as an independent country Mexico began to develop a proper Mexican identity with a pride for the antiquities belonging to the Mexica, Teotihuacan, Mayan, etc. cultures, it was established that they should be brought to the capital of the country and stored in a single enclosure, to study them and to exhibit them to the public, however there is still no formal archaeological exploration, even the museography would be very dispersed, remember that it was still a very new country, the political organization was not entirely stable.

At the end of 1825 is when by presidential decree the Great National Museum of Mexico was inaugurated, an itinerant exhibition, in addition to a bibliographic and documentary collection, it was decided to assign it a fixed place until 1866 with a very controversial character of the history Maximilian of Habsburg, II emperor of Mexico. 

This building is right next to the National Palace and today houses the Museum of Cultures, here are some photos of what that first archeology museum looked like

In this location there were already many more monolithic archaeological pieces, in the courtyard was the Atlantean of Tula, several Mexica feathered serpents, etc.

In 1888 the president of Mexico Porfirio Diaz inaugurated the National Library of Anthropology located inside the National Museum, being the beginning of a synchrony between the archaeological pieces and the scientific publications.

It is interesting to see how the national archaeological heritage is built from cultural legacies, promoted by President Diaz who is the one who administers with the Institution of pre-Hispanic monuments and starts the Mexican archaeology still with many mistakes but already with a research methodology tested and applied in the archaeological site of Teotihuacan by the archaeologist Leopoldo Batres, however, the Mexican Revolution arrived and everything was put on hold, scientific research was resumed until 1920 when the revolution ended and the excavations in Teotihuacan were resumed by Manuel Gamio, considered the father of Mexican archaeology.

to the left Manuel Gamio, father of the mexican archeology 

During the post war period the country was rebuilding and it is until the 40's when the cultural institutions began to consolidate, this due to a growing economy and political stability, called the Mexican miracle, the president Adolfo Lopez Mateos with a very good management and a nationalist discourse, decided to put the collection of pre-Hispanic art in a place where the monoliths could be really observed and studied.

In such a way that between 1963 and 1964 by the intrusion of President Lopez Mateos and only in 19 months the most important museographic precinct of the continent and one of the most important worldwide was built, it was a scientific project since it included the bibliographic and documentary collection, the School of Anthropology and History as well as a collection of modern Mexican art, but also a tourist project since in 4 years the 1968 Olympic Games were going to be presented.

The Presidente Lopez Mateos supports cultural institutions.

The museography would take a couple of decades, even though all the monoliths of the old National Museum were moved, the new museum was half empty, but the project was a success and was inaugurated by President Lopez Mateos himself.

The architect was Pedro Ramirez Vazquez, with the joint idea that the ethnographic rooms on the second floor were the continuation of the archaeological rooms on the first floor, ordered by groups, as an example Teotihuacan on the first floor and on the second floor would be the room of the Otomi, all the rooms are so with the exception of the Mexica room that is only one floor, this with the idea that the continuity of the Mexica (Aztecs) we are the Mexicans of the present.

Inauguration of the museum of archeology  September 17, 1964

First tour in the museum of archeology

Publication about the opening of the museum

As you can read in this post, having a National Museum of Anthropology and History is almost a miracle, there had to be an economic boom, a nationalist policy, a genuine interest in ancient cultures and a tourism project so that we can enjoy this magical museum.

Me giving a tour in the museum