Must See Pottery at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City

Mexico is known for its blue waters and sandy beaches but what it is also known for are the cultural landmarks in the city and this is exactly what we wanted to see on our first trip to Mexico City. The city is home to the second largest number of Museums only beaten by London, UK. We found a museum on every street and one more beautiful than the other. We were very impressed by not just the Art but also the architecture, the sculptures, the murals and the people.

One of the largest museums we visited was the National Museum of Anthropology nestled in the heart of the city. The current headquarters of the National Museum of Anthropology was inaugurated on September 17, 1964, and for more than five decades, it has fulfilled its mission of researching, conserving, exhibiting, and disseminating the country’s most important archaeological and ethnographic collections.

From its inception, this icon of 20th-century urban architecture was designed to be more than a repository, but a space for reflection on the rich indigenous heritage of our multicultural nation. Its 22 rooms and more than 45,000 square meters of construction make it the largest museum in Mexico and one of the most prominent in the world.

Designed in 1964 this monumental building contains exhibition halls surrounding a courtyard with a huge pond and a vast square concrete umbrella supported by a single slender pillar (known as “el paraguas”, Spanish for “the umbrella”). The halls are ringed by gardens, many of which contain outdoor exhibits. The museum has 23 rooms for exhibits and covers an area of 79,700 square meters (almost 8 hectares) or 857,890 square feet (almost 20 acres).

This important site houses archaeological and anthropological evidence forged by multiple cultural groups over hundreds of years of history; it also pays tribute to the Indigenous peoples of present-day Mexico through a rich collection that preserves the customs, representations, expressions, knowledge, and traditions that are part of the nation’s intangible heritage and a legacy that belongs to all humanity.

The permanent exhibitions on the ground floor cover all pre-Columbian civilizations located on the current territory of Mexico as well as in former Mexican territory in what is today the southwestern United States. They are classified as North, West, Maya, Gulf of Mexico, Oaxaca, Mexico, Toltec, and Teotihuacan. The permanent expositions at the first floor show the culture of Native American population of Mexico since the Spanish colonization.

Walking through the many rooms that were segregated by era we were able to track the progress of pottery from early simple designs to the more complex glazed designs. The dead were often buried with their pottery and there was a crypt on display showing just that.

It took us over 4 hours to get through the museum and we did not have time to visit the upper levels. I would assume it would take longer with a translator but well worth the time and effort.

We would most certainly visit this beautiful city again and spend more time at this museum. Mexico is a city that values and preserves its heritage and culture and that is something you do not see in every country.