Community Museum of San Miguel Teotongo

The Community Museum of San Miguel Teotongo began soon after the 1991 discovery of a rare ritual burial in the neighborhood. A 1993 research team was given the task of locating more artifacts and found that nearly all the residents had found at least something; in their homes, in the surrounding hills, or under the garden bench.

To protect everything, and it was already a lot, the museum was built and opened in October 1994. Today, it showcases the artifacts recovered by residents, and they’re not insubstantial. With one big exhibition hall devoted to the collection, it can still take a good part of the afternoon to get through everything. Standouts in the collection are ceramic works and pottery, obsidian knives, stone carvings, and a figure of a monkey dancing with a pen. This is clearly related to the Nahuatl culture’s long tradition of arts, dance, and science.

The human remains are also on display and are presumed to be those of a prominent member of the society.

Perhaps most interestingly, the museum also operates a community temazcal. That’s a ritual sauna, (photo above bottom left), that’s ignited on Saturdays.

San Miguel Teotongo is one of 47 neighborhoods that make up the Sierra de Santa Catarina, a belt of volcanoes and human developments in the city’s southeast. Just off the Mexico-Puebla highway, the museum is not far from Metro stations Santa Marta and Los Reyes. Even more convenient, it’s just steps away from the Cablebús station.

With a patio for outdoor and sporting events,  the Museum of San Miguel Teotongo also frequently hosts workshops and learning events.