Interactive Museum of the Economy (MIDE)

Photo: Aberusama,  Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

The Interactive Museum of the Economy (MIDE) is an award winning museum and the first of its kind dedicated just to economics, finance, and sustainable development. The Bank of Mexico started the museum as a way encouraging learning and discussion of topics centered around economics and finance.

Four permanent exhibition spaces includes:

• Growth and welfare
• Finance in society
• Fundamentals of economics
• Sustainable development

Temporary exhibits are on related topics. These have included informative shows about coins through history, entrepreneurs, and small consumers. The MIDE often hosts groups of school kids on up to university student.

The Building

The 17th  century building used to be the Convento y Hospital de Pobres y Convalecientes de Nuestra Señora de Belén y San Francisco Xavier. The order of Betlemitas built it and ran for more than 200 years. The Church on the far west of the same used to be the church of the convent and the order. Today the church building hosts the Army and Air Force Museum, Bethlemitas.

The order of Betlemitas were disbanded by the Spanish Crown to punish them for supporting the insurgency during Mexico’s Independence war. When the Independence movement had concluded, the building was used as cheap housing and a hotel. The interior courtyard was completely filled in with newer construction. The Bank of Mexico only acquired the building in 1990. They completely restored it, with the Cooperation of the National Institute of Anthropology and History,  to something like it’s original condition. The monumental rehabilitation took 15 years to complete.

INAH called the project one of the most difficult and important in the Centro Histórico of the 1990s. With four levels that include a ground floor, mezzanine, second and third floors, the total area is 3,700 square meters.

The Interactive Museum of the Economy opened in 2006.

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.