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Photo: AlejandroLinaresGarcia, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This museum offers homage to the many different indigenous cultures of Mexico, celebrating folk art, music, gastronomy, and more. They also have an impressive bookshop with art for sale from skilled artisans from all over the country.
Museo Nacional de las Culturas Populares is a museum in Mexico City dedicated to Mexico's ethnic and cultural diversity. This diversity not only includes that of its indigenous peoples, but also those of its regions and socioeconomic strata. It was founded in 1982 by anthropologist Guillermo Bonfil Batalla at a time when the country was accepting and promoting its cultural diversity. The museum does not have a large permanent collection but rather focuses on temporary exhibits, concerts, workshops and other cultural and educational events as well as promoting the creation of museums in Mexico to promote local cultures. The museum is also home to the Centro de Información y Documentación Alberto Beltrán, founded in 1971 to promote research and knowledge about Mexican handcrafts and folk art and indigenous ethnicities.
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Church of St John the Baptist
One of the oldest churches in Mexico, it was built by Franciscan missionaries between 1522 and 1552. The church is spectacularly beautiful, built in a baroque style and elaborately decorated with interior architectural detail and historic artwork including paintings and sculpture. An interior courtyard and small side chapels offer space for quiet spiritual reflection.
Cortés had this house built for his Nahua mistress/interpreter, and many historians believe that he had his Spanish wife murdered here. Despite the house's historic and aesthetic significance, it is not marked by any plaques as many Mexicans today consider la Malinche a traitor. The building is not open to the public, but can be appreciated from outside.
Casa Rojo
This is the home where four generations of the Kahlo family grew up and lived. Although Frida Kahlo was the most famous of Guillermo's children, he actually had an interesting life that ultimately had a big impact on Frida's worldview.
La Conchita
Built in 1521 under Cortés, this is believed to be the earliest Christian building in Mexico City.
Frida Kahlo Museum
Also known as La Casa Azul, this walled hacienda painted brilliant indigo blue, is where the much-revered Mexican artist spent the last years of her life. Admission includes access to the courtyard, a small series of galleries with ever-changing displays, and the historical portion of the house, which has been preserved from the days when Kahlo was alive. A small snack bar and museum shop are also on the premises, and lectures are given periodically. An iPod tour can be taken for an extra fee and if you'd like to take pictures or videos, an extra fee of M$30 will be assessed. Tickets tend to sell out a week (or more!) in advance, so if you really want to visit this site, reserve your ticket online early.
Leon Trotsky Museum
After being expelled from the Soviet Union, and subsequently from Turkey, France and Norway, Marxist theorist Leon Trotsky was granted asylum in Mexico, where he settled in Coyoacán in 1937. He continued to be vocally critical of Stalin's policies, however, and in 1940 he was assassinated in his home. The museum preserves the house in much the condition as it was in Trotsky's last days.