Venustiano Carranza House Museum

The Venustiano Carranza House Museum is an exquisite Porfiriato-period building in the Cuauhtémoc neighborhood. An increasingly affluent neighborhood at the time, by the period of the Mexican Revolution the streets here were lined with the homes of the well-to-do.

The house was built by civil engineer, Manuel Luis Stampa. He’d planned to live there with his family, but the violence of the revolution crept closer into the neighborhood. During the height of the fighting, revolutionaries occupied the house and used it as a barracks as it was very close to the train station (today, the Jardin del Arte Park).

As the war drew to a close in 1920, then President Venustiano Carranza rented the house for a few months. As this was the height of the campaign for the new, one-term only President, his former general, Álvaro Obregón drove Carranza from the city. He fled to Veracruz, but was assassinated and never returned. His remains were eventually returned for a funeral in the main hall of this house. 

During the 1920s, the building acted as the Embassy of France, and later as the embassy of El Salvador. In 1942, it was declared part of the Heritage of the Nation. Soon after, it was converted to a museum of the national constitution. In 1961, the doors were re-opened as the Venustiano Carranza House Museum.

With three main areas, the house has a permanent exhibition of objects related to Carranza’s personal life.  There’s also a gallery space for temporary art exhibitions, and an auditorium for public events. The library, “Constituyentes de 1917,” is still here, too. It’s dedicated to the history of Mexican legislation. 

The Venustiano Carranza House Museum is just a few blocks from Paseo de la Reforma. The Cuauhtémoc neighborhood is still well-heeled. Home to many international embassies, it’s a perfectly appropriate place for a walk or a bike ride. As mentioned, it’s just below the Jardin del Arte park, and the Monumento a la Madre. 

Hours:
Tuesdays through Saturdays: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sundays: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.