Mexico
Celebrating the Ordinary at Mexico City’s Nostalgia Museums
The nostalgia industry is big these days. As our lives become increasingly focused on accomplishing tasks by tapping our thumbs against glass screens, more and more people are longing for the physical. It wasn’t too long ago, of course, when all of our possessions could be touched, held or collected – just not downloaded. Tapping
Meeting the Mummies of the Museo de El Carmen
Underneath an old convent in the southern suburb of San Ángel awaits one of Mexico City’s most peculiar attractions. The former Carmelite convent, which dates back to the 17th century, is now known as the Museo de El Carmen. It hosts a large collection of Spanish Baroque paintings and ancient religious relics, while the building
Tepotzotlán: Searching for Magic in a Pueblo Mágico
Admittedly, I’d never even heard of Tepotzotlán until a day or two before my visit. I had a fairly long list of small towns nearby Mexico City that I wanted to see, but sadly, most of them were still recovering from a powerful earthquake from a few weeks prior. After some last-minute research, I discovered Tepotzotlán
Tula: Mesoamerica’s Missing Link
Between the abandonment of Teotihuacan and the emergence of the Aztec Empire, central Mexico was dominated by another powerful group: the Toltecs. But we still know relatively little about them. The Aztecs sung the Toltecs’ praises, considering themselves to be their heirs. And they even repeatedly visited their former capital of Tula to learn (and
Ascending the Ancient Pyramids of Teotihuacan
Two thousand years after they were built, the pyramids of Teotihuacan remain among the most awe-inspiring and also most mysterious structures in the Americas. Even today, archaeologists and historians are still scratching their heads over who exactly built the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon and the Quetzalcoatl Pyramid. Regardless, these monumental
Street Art: Mexico City
The Mexico City street art scene is thriving nowadays, with the rest of the world beginning to take notice. But looking at the country’s history, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Mexico has long been tolerant, if not downright encouraging, of creativity in public spaces. There was the Mexican muralist movement of the
Uncovering Mexico City’s Aztec Past
In 1978, local electric company workers digging near Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral made a discovery that would change the city’s urban landscape forever. It was a massive stone disk depicting the dismembered body of the goddess Coyolxauhqui. According to ancient mythology, she was killed and turned into the moon by her brother Huitzilopochtli, the patron deity of