Museo de la Ciudad de México

Located in the baroque palace of the Counts of Santiago de Calimaya, this museum tells the layered story of the capital across centuries of growth and change. A carved serpent's head recycled from an Aztec temple sits embedded in one corner of the building, a vivid reminder of the city built atop Tenochtitlan. Galleries chart the transformation from island lake-city to sprawling metropolis through maps, paintings and models. On the upper floor visitors can see the preserved studio of the landscape painter Joaquín Clausell.