10 attractions of the first peoples of Mexico-Tenochtitlan tour
Following this tour, you will learn about the vestiges, history, and biocultural heritage of the people who, from pre-Hispanic times, gave birth to what we know today as Mexico City.
On this tour, you will learn about the vestiges, history, and biocultural heritage of the people who, from pre-Hispanic times, gave rise to what we know today as Mexico City. The first settlements took place around the lakes of the Basin of Mexico, in what is now Mexico City and part of the State of Mexico, these were Azcapotzalco, Xochimilco, Iztapalapa, Cuicuilco, and Culhuacán, among others.
Activities include guided tours of archaeological sites, visits to historical sites, visits to museums, cultural tourism, and cultural exchange.
The 10 main attractions of the tour of the first peoples of Mexico-Tenochtitlan are the Azcapotzalco Museum, National Museum of Anthropology, Mixcoac Archaeological Zone, Cuicuilco, Diego Rivera Anahuacalli Museum, Cerro de la Estrella, Xochimilco Archaeological Museum, Cuahilama Archaeological Zone, Cuitláhuac Regional Community Museum, and Andres Quintana Roo Museum.
Recommended lodging areas are Northern Tourist Zone - Basilica of Guadalupe, Chapultepec - Polanco Tourist Zone, W.T.C. Tourist Zone. - San Ángel Ciudad Universitaria, Perisur - Ajusco tourist zone, and Xochimilco - Milpa Alta - Tláhuac tourist zone.
Azcapotzalco Museum
This museum exhibits the most outstanding paleontological and archeological discoveries that have been made in the surroundings of the municipality. Some of them are related to the first settlements discovered in the Basin of Mexico, specifically in the center of Azcapotzalco, where pre-Hispanic pieces and constructions similar to those found in Teotihuacan, from the Pre-Classic period (900 B.C.), were found.
Hacienda del Rosario 1560, Prados del Rosario, Azcapotzalco, 02410, Mexico City, Mexico.
National Museum of Anthropology
To learn more about the primitive peoples of the Basin of Mexico, we recommend a visit to the Preclassic Hall in the Central Highlands, where the main characteristics of these civilizations are exhibited.
Avenida Paseo de la Reforma s/n, Chapultepec Polanco, Miguel Hidalgo, 11560, Mexico City, Mexico.
Mixcoac Archaeological Zone
Mixcoac, whose name in Nahuatl means "where the cloud serpent is venerated", was a pre-Hispanic settlement dating from 400 BC to 1521 AD. That is, it was a settlement before the founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, and remained until the period of conquest. When visiting the Archaeological Zone of Mixcoac you can see vestiges of the buildings of the last stage of this settlement, which include the pyramid dedicated to the God Mixcoatl, the East Platform, the annex buildings, the Central Patio, the West Platform, the Ceremonial Plaza and four adobe rooms, as well as a museum room.
Pyramid 7, San Pedro de los Pinos, Benito Juarez, 03800, Mexico City, Mexico.
Cuicuilco
The construction of this area was before the foundation of Tenochtitlan, in the Preclassic Tenochtitlan, the Preclassic period, from 1200 B.C. to A.D. 100. B.C. to 100 A.D. Later, the eruption of the Xitle volcano caused the city to be abandoned by its inhabitants, who are believed to have moved to the area of Teotihuacan. Today it is possible to visit the Cuicuilco Archaeological Zone, the Site Museum, and even the crater of the Xitle volcano and its caves made by rivers of volcanic lava that solidified.
Avenida Insurgentes Sur s/n, Espacio Ecológico Cuicuilco, Tlalpan, 14060, Mexico City, Mexico.
Diego Rivera- Anahuacalli Museum
The design of the museum imitates a Teocalli, which means "house of the gods". It was built with volcanic stone taken from the same terrain, coming from the eruption of the Xitle volcano, and with indigenous architectural designs. During the visit to the Anahuacalli, we can appreciate a vast collection of archaeological pieces of pre-Columbian cultures, which will help us to know our pre-Hispanic roots and the characteristics of the diverse cultures that flourished in the central areas of Mexico.
Museo 150, San Pablo Tepetlapa, Coyoacán, 04620, Mexico City, Mexico.
Cerro de la Estrella
Since pre-Hispanic times, this has been a place of worship and adoration for the indigenous populations and was known as Huixachtecatl, which means hill of the huizaches. On its summit, the ceremony of the "new fire" was performed, and today you can find the Archaeological Zone and the Site Museum, with archaeological remains found in that area.
Felipe Ángeles 24, Iztapalapa, 09720, Mexico City, Mexico.
Xochimilco Archaeological Museum
Just 500 meters from the Cuahilama Archaeological Zone, is located another precinct of great interest. It is a museum with more than 2000 objects of pre-Hispanic origin found in the surroundings of Xochimilco. The museum is located in what used to be one of the pump houses built during the Porfiriato.
Avenida Tenochtitlan s/n, Santa Cruz Acalpixca, Xochimilco, 16500, Mexico City, Mexico.
Cuahilama Archaeological Zone
From the Xochimilcas, a Nahua people that settled in the Basin of Mexico since 400 B.C., between the towns of Santa Cruz Alcapixtla, San Gregorio, and San Bartolomé Xicomulco, you can appreciate the vestiges of the Cuahilama Archaeological Zone, a hill where there are petroglyphs with calendrical motifs, deities, and tlatoanis from the classic period.
2 de Abril Street, Tetacalanco, Xochimilco, 16500, Mexico City, Mexico.
Cuitláhuac Regional Community Museum
It has archaeological pieces in the custody of the community, exhibition rooms, courses, and workshops. Its main attractions are the replicas of five pre-Hispanic braziers found on August 3, 1995, by Jesús Galindo, who cultivated his land in San Pedro Tláhuac. They are five ritual vessels made of clay, all of the large dimensions, whose ornamental richness is visible in their good state of preservation. The original pieces are in the National Museum of Anthropology, but this museum has exact replicas of them.
The objects represent five different deities that are related to each other: Chicomecóatl, mother of our sustenance; Xilonen (Cinteocíhuatl), lady of tender corn; Tonacatecuhtli, lord of our sustenance; Chalchiuhtlicue, the deity of lakes and streams (the only incomplete piece), and Tláloc, the deity of water, which reveal the importance that the Mexica gave to agricultural activities.
Calzada Tláhuac - Chalco 63, Barrio de La Magdalena, Tláhuac, 13070, Mexico City, Mexico.
Andrés Quintana Roo MuseumTláhuac
Founded in 1992 thanks to the donation of archaeological pieces by Dr. Socorro Bernal Roque, the museum preserves about 279 pieces belonging to the Toltec and Teotihuacan cultures.
Avenida Independencia s/n, San Andrés Mixquic, Tláhuac, 13630, Mexico City, Mexico.
