The Sun Stone
The Aztec calendar.
Nan Palmero from San Antonio, TX, USA — CC BY 2.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). — CC BY-SA 4.0
Mexico's largest and most visited museum, and one of the world's great museums of pre-Columbian civilisation. It welcomed about 3.7 million visitors in 2024, and its more than twenty halls hold the treasures of the Aztecs, Maya, Olmecs, Teotihuacan and the other peoples of ancient Mexico. Its most famous piece is the Sun Stone, the huge stone disc known as the Aztec calendar, carved with rings of symbols around a face at its centre. Other treasures include colossal Olmec stone heads, a replica of the tomb of the Maya king Pakal, and sculptures and murals from ancient cities. The central courtyard is ringed by a 1960s modern building and shaded by «El Paraguas», an enormous roof resting on a single carved column from which water pours like a waterfall. Upstairs, halls cover Mexico's indigenous peoples today, with their dress, homes and crafts. The museum is vast, so choose the halls that interest you and allow at least half a day. It is closed on Mondays and sits in Chapultepec Park near the castle, so the two can be combined.
The Aztec calendar.
Colossal stone faces.
A roof on one column.
Paseo de la Reforma and Calle Mahatma Gandhi, Chapultepec Park
At least half a day, a full day for history lovers. The key halls are the Mexica hall with the Sun Stone, and the Maya and Teotihuacan halls.
