In náuatl language, Chapultepec means Hill of the Grasshopper and alludes to a rocky elevation of 45mts of height. Located on the banks of the Lake of Texcoco, in the pre-Hispanic world it was an establishment teotihuacano, tolteca and finally Aztec.

In different excavations there have been found rests of these cultures that are exhibited in the National Museum of History. In the Base del Cerrillo it was sprouting a spring that was one of the fountains of drinking water for the ancient Tenochtitlan. It is said that it was the place where Moctezuma Ilhuicamina used to bath, Tlatoani or Emperor of Tenochtitlán who hold the mission of the construction of two aqueducts to supply the City.

After the conquest the Reina Juana I, mother of the Emperor Carlos V, ordered that the hill and the forest to become property of the City and his inhabitants.

The archaeological park of Cuicuilco, lodges the rests of a pyramid of the first inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico who developed throughout 600 years from 700 B.C., and that declined due the volcanic eruptions of the volcano Xitle, at the end of the 4th century. The culture of " The Hills " as the archaeologists call to this part of the basin of Mexico, came from establishments Otomíes that became sedentary and they even developed hydraulic works of which remains in the nearby hill of Zacatepetl. It is calculated that Cuicuilco went so far as having a population of more than 20 thousand inhabitants and that the migration of these helped the growth and foundation of Tenochtitlán.

Cuicuilco, whose name is translated as " Place of Singing and Dance " is dedicated to Huehueteotl " Old god of the fire ". Between the local traces a pyramid of circular base is placed, and in it lowest part there is a formed construction of sandstones. In his interior, drawings of red cinnabar survive.

Also a museum and a series of footpaths are in here, in which the visitor can appreciate between the volcanic formations plants of the area. Crossing Avenida de los Insurgents there is the Olympic Village in which there are located more ruins discovered during the construction of the complex to lodge the participants of the Olympic Games of 1968.

Nailed in the region of the hill of Mexico State in a fertile valley surrounded by mountains, Malinalco is a place rich in history, pre-Hispanic architecture and traditions, located to only 99km of the City by the highway to Toluca - Marquesa - Tenango - Jajalpa - Malinalco.

The archaeological area is unique in Centre America, of Aztec origin it is one of the most impressive architectural sets of this culture, monolithic buildings, excavated and worked directly in the rock of the hills. The Cauahcalli or House of the Eagle is the principal and best preserved building: a circular room that contains figures of eagles and ocelots, all in one piece.

In this enclosure the Eagle Warriors were ordered, masters of the nobility who reached to be commanders, priests or both things.

Also it is possible to visit the University Museum, the Convent Agustino constructed between 1540 and 1568, and the Market of Crafts.

The House of Anahuac (name with which the valley of Mexico was known), was projected in 1964 by Diego Rivera as museum-study. Pyramidal building constructed with volcanic stone, it possesses mayan architectural elements and toltecas, the roofs are decorated by mosaics, skill that Rivera explored during the last years of his life. There is exhibited the biggest private collection of pre-Hispanic pieces integrated by figures of Tlalilco, ceremonial glasses and masks of Teotihuacan, warriors of the culture of west and totonacas´ smiling faces among other pieces.

In the study of the painter there are in exhibition sketches of his murals, notebooks of work and paintings of trestle. Every November there is mounted a spectacular "ofrenda" celebrating to dead.

Inaugurated on March 22, 1980, where it was the ancient plant of water pumping at the end of 19th century. There are exhibited approximately six thousand pieces found in the area.

Nearby, in Santa Cruz Acalpixcan, an archaeological area spreads lodging pre-Hispanic traces discovered at the end of the 19th century. Many of them are still covered but there can be seen remains of what was an important ceremonial center, an observatory, an adoratorio and priestly rooms. Especially interesting are twelve stones carved with cosmic motives. It is said that in the hill of Cuilama the xochimilcas used to celebrate every 52 years the ceremony of the New Fire, which also was made at Cerro de la Estrella in Iztapalapa.

In this museum there are exhibited the particular collection of Dolores Olmedo, famous philanthropic. This collection is the most important of trestle works of Diego Rivera including 25 works of Frida Kahlo like " Self-portrait with Changuito ", " The Broken Spine" " A few Piquetitos ". Of Angelina Beloff, russian painter, who was Diego's first wife, 43 illustrations for stories of Hans Christian Andersen and Jack London. They are exhibited also, more than 600 pre-hispanic pieces, furniture and popular art.

The museum is located where the ancient ranch La Noria was, construction of the 17th century. In the gardens are cultivated plants of Mexican origin like dahlias, aloes and plumlike fruits, and fauna walking by like pavorreales, turkeys and dogs xoloitzcuintles (the only canine indigenous species).

His construction began in February, 1963 and it was inaugurated on September 17, 1964 by Adolfo López Mateos, president of that time. It has 44,000 m2 indoor areas and 35,700 m2 of open areas. Museum experts, anthropologists, archaeologists and plastic artists participated in the museum creation . By his collection, size and facilities is considered the world´s most important museum in his genre.

It has eleven rooms of archaeology and eleven of ethnography arranged in chronological and cultural way. The museum alternates interiors and outdoors since each of his rooms is a museum itself. It has, also, three auditorium, library, audio-visual area, room of temporary exhibitions and store.

The first two halls (Introduction to Anthropology and Population of America) are complementary, other nine can be visited in any order, eventough this is a suggested order :

1. Pre-clássic at Central Hill
2. Teotihuacan
3. Toltecas´age
4. Mexica (or Azteca)
5. Cultures from Oaxaca
6. Culturas from Gulf Coast
7. Mayan
8. North Cultures
9. West Cultures

San Pedro de los Pinos Mixcoac
Calle 20, Pirámide and Periférico
Monday to Sunday 9-17h.

During the Pos-clássic 900-1521 A.D. here was venerated the god Mixcoatl Serpiente de Nube in náhuatl, and origin of Mixcoac voice, which is the name of the village that begins from this point. It was a palace - temple visited mostly by dancers and musicians of the plateau. It has a big rectangular room towards the south, a platform, where ceremonies were celebrated, and the bathtub towards the south-west. Nowadays the Cultural Center "the Pyramid" has three workshops, a forum and a theater with capacity for 156 seated persons. They present shows, dance and musical recitals, with political, social or civil topics.

Templo Mayor
Seminario 8
Tuesday to Sunday, 9-18 h.
5542-0256 / 5542-4787
Guided Tours: 5542-4784

The archaeological space known as Templo Mayor, belongs to the traces of the ancient México, sacred place or ceremonial center of Tenochtitlán. Mexi was one of the dedications to main god of mexicas, god that lived there: Mexico means " Place of Mexi ".

The archaeological work has revealed seven different stages or layers of what once was a pyramid of 40 m high from 1480, when the tlatoani Tizoc was the master. This structure was the one that Spanish conquerors saw - and later they beat-.

The Templo Mayor Museum was opened on October 12, 1987, under the archaeological project in charge of teacher Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, who continued this work also as director the Museum - until 2002.
Into the eight rooms they exhibit thousands of pieces from the collection. In the foyer there is a monumental mock-up that shows the hypothetical reconstruction of the ceremonial center in Tenochtitlán. The first room is for temporary exhibitions. Room two has as topic " Ritual and sacrifice ", Room three has the topic " Tribute and trade ", four "Huitzilopochtli" and " Coyolxauhqui ", five "Tlaloc". Six, " Flora and fauna ", seven "Agriculture", and eight, " Historical archaeology ".