MUSEO NACIONAL DE ANTROPOLOGÍA E HISTORIA

The largest museum in Latin America, and one of the great anthropological museums of the world, the Museo de Antropología is a must-see for most foreign visitors to Mexico City. The museum recounts the crossing of the first hunter-gatherers from Asia onto the North American continent and has magnificent archaeological exhibits from early Mesoamerican societies as well as ethnological displays on Mexico’s current Amerindian groups.

  Apart from its archaeological and anthropological treasures, Pedro Ramírez Vásquez’s building itself is an impressive work of art, with its understated exterior and dramatic central patio. In the middle of the patio, a sheer curtain of water flows from a huge overhang supported by a single concrete column. The column is covered with sculpted reliefs depicting events in Mexican history. Out front is a massive sculpture of Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain; the sculpture came from a mountainside east of Mexico City.

  The museum is laid out in two floors, with 23 exhibition rooms. Each room on the 1st floor is dedicated to the archaeology of particular geographic areas or cultures throughout Mexican history. Casual visitors may want to skip the first two rooms, which are dedicated to the profession of anthropology and Mesoamerica in general, and move directly to the “Origins” room. Here begins the chronological tracing of different civilizations that grew up in Mexico over the centuries, including Teotihuacanos, Toltecs, Olmecs, Zapotecs, and others, right up to the Aztecs. Many of the finest pieces of prehispanic art anywhere in the world are found in the rooms on this floor. Upstairs, rooms focus on the anthropology and ethnography of different indigenous groups in Mexico today, including the Huichol, Cora, Purépecha, Otomí, Nahua, and different groups from the Sierra de Puebla, Oaxaca, and Gulf of Mexico regions. The exhibits are exhaustively labeled in both Spanish and English, providing a veritable university course of anthropology for those who take the time to read them all.

  A full day is required to get an adequate tour of the museum, and many people with a serious interest in Mexican history spend two. But don’t be daunted: if you have just a casual interest in the subject, two or three hours of popping in and out of different halls will give you an excellent taste. Take in the museum’s 20-minute orientation film before setting out to tour the five kilometers of walkways, patios, and exhibit halls. If you need to catch your breath, have a snack at the lower-level café or check out the well-stocked bookstore (both English and Spanish titles are available). Rent headsets with taped information (in English or Spanish) for $6—a good value to save your eyes from getting tired due to reading labels all day.

  The museum (Paseo de la Reforma, just west of the Museo Rufino Tamayo, tel. 5553-6285 or 5553-6554, www.mna.inah.gob.mx, 9 a.m.– 7 p.m. Tues.–Sat., 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Sun., admission $4, or $10 with a camera) is best avoided on weekends, especially Sundays, when it is usually mobbed. Note: No flash photography is allowed. If you don’t want to pay the fee, you can check your cameras and anything else not needed at the entrance.

  Outside the museum, the vertiginous voladores perform daily. These men, who hail from the eastern state of Veracruz, perform their traditional indigenous ceremony, which entails climbing up a tall pole, hanging upside down with their feet attached to a rope, and gradually descending to the ground as the rope unwinds. Those who watch the show should contribute a small amount to the performers. The voladores perform throughout the afternoon Tuesday–Sunday.