Museo de Las Momias

Okay, folks, this one is grim. If you have a weak stomach, don't say I didn't warn you.

In the Guanajuato area, the elements are perfect for preserving bodies. When bodies last forever and the population increases, burial space gets crowded. Someone has to come up with a solution: move them. I understand that's how these were discovered. There were crypts and catacombs, for lack of a better word. In the museum, there are photos of some of the original discoveries where bodies lined the walls in underground tunnels as well as lying in tombs. They aren't all ancient. I'm not sure any of them are. I saw dates as recent as 1922 and into the 1940s. There was an introductory movie but it was in Spanish and I didn't understand it.

Modern science has given the means to discover information about some of these discoveries such as sex, approximate age, even what some of them may have died of. They think one woman had some sort of seizure, was buried alive, then woke up in her tomb. Not a pretty picture. Neither are the babies and I will spare you those.

I suspect they dressed some of these mummies for display but some of them seem to have remnants of the real thing on. I notice that many were buried with their shoes on and they remain on, some almost seeming like part of the feet because of the age and dehydration, They also put explanations with a number of the mummies that tend to get a little tongue and cheek.

I notice that Guanajuato likes to use the author Cervantes as their claim to fame. I personally think the Museo de Las Momias is a much better known attraction.

The reflections are actually from the mummies across the hallway.