Mexicans love wearing masks. My favorite is a statue of a dog wearing a human mask created about 300 A.D, and found near Colima. Masks are part of the Christmas pastorelas, depicting the devil, ... read more

Teotihuacán (pronounced teh-oh-tee-wah-KAHN) is an archaeological site some 50 km north of downtown Mexico City but still in the Valle de Mexico (the bowl surrounded by mountains in which Mexico City ... read more

Take a look at enough street signs in Mexico and soon you will be pondering the origin of their names. The country's urban geography provides a veritable "Who's Who" of Mexico's heroes and important an... read more

By Michele Joyce. © 2004 Mexico City is one of the world's largest urban centers, and its population continues to grow at a rate unequaled by any other area in the nation. The Mexico City regi... read more

This useful volume is back in a new and updated edition and it’s still as essential as ever. Whether you’re making a brief visit as a tourist, or escaping the northern winter for a few months or checking out the area more extensively as a place to spend one’s retirement years, this is one item you should have in your survival kit. It’s a nice blend of guidebook, travelogue and history text with lots of local color and some ecological notes sprinkled throughout. read more

These six wonderful books hit a real soft spot because I'm an ardent admirer of Mexican creativity as it exhibits itself so lavishly in art, architecture, the design of everyday objects and the bold approach to color. And I particularly enjoy good photographic books, which these essentially are. read more

Here's a welcome addition to the growing library of Mexican guidebooks. It covers all the information you would expect, like motels, hotels, bed & breakfasts, restaurants, shopping, money exchange locations, tourist highlights and how to get from one place to another. In addition, there's an abundance of information on such items as bus fares, rental cars, walking and jogging routes, exercise gyms, language courses and even where to get rolls of film processed. read more

The setting of the story is around 1910, the time of the Mexican Revolution and the war is an ever-present background to the story. It's a time when great cruelties were imposed on the Indian populace by the country's rulers. Indeed, genocide is the only word you could use to describe what happened. The villain of the piece is a colonel of the Rurales who makes it his personal mission to see that every Indian dies in the most hideous fashion possible. As villains go, this one is a real bastard. read more

Gina Hyams and Melba Levick have created a wonderful compilation of photographs of twenty-one of Mexico's most spectacular and beautiful inns and bed and breakfast establishments. This one is a real winner. read more

Believe me, it’s not quite like any other town you’ve ever been to. Even in Mexico. read more

It’s a surprise to visit a likeable, livable city like Morelia for the first time and find there’s almost no gringo community there. In fact, one resident put the number at 100 to 150 total. And only a handful of those are the retirees who are so prevelant in Jalisco. Most Americans, for example, are associated with the university in Morelia, as both teachers and students. read more

On a huge hill, covered with weeds, small trees and debris, was built a church overlooking the city, the Sanctuary de los Remedies. It is a beautiful site, with the towered church silhouetted against t... read more

I have been receiving a number of letters from people who have an interest in pre-Columbian Mexico and therefore this article will be mostly about my explorations in the vicinity of Tlaxco. Tlaxco is a... read more

Cata, Guanajuato This is part of one wall of the church in Cata, near the town of Guanajuato.  When I visited in 1996, the walls were completely covered with exvotos to a height o... read more

As you drive the winding road into town, you catch glimpses of it perched like an eagle's aerie on a ridge of the mountains that ring the valley. The small archaeological site, which overlooks Malinalc... read more

Chalma, about an hour and a half by car from Cuernavaca, is a rather grubby little town, which few foreigners visit. Yet on weekends and holy days, the place is packed with pilgrims, who come to worshi... read more

The material splendor of the Maya culture is appreciated, more than in any other field, in the architecture and ornamentation of their cities. These city-states were the center of power for the king-pr... read more

Poking around an archaeological site that's still being dug out is fun. It was my first experience. Five friends and I had the further pleasure of having it all to ourselves while we were there. Work h... read more

A small church in Michoacán has been called the "Sistine Chapel of the Americas".

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Click for interactive map Two sites within an hour's drive south of Zacatecas make it well worthwhile to linger at least an extra day when visiting this splendid colonial treasure, described in a p... read more

Five places in Mexico are on the list of the world's 100 most endangered heritage sites. "The World Monuments Fund (WMF) is the foremost private, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation o... read more

The author of the famous poem "The Bells of San Blas" had never ever visited the town. The San Blas that the poem refers to is in the state of Nayarit, on the Pacific coast. Today, it is a small town,... read more

Maya-themed murals, which fuse shards of this ancient culture with elements of fantasy, are Sala's current focus. Costa Real Click on photos for la... read more

The vast majority of visitors to Cancun never make it south of Tulum. Yet to many, that's where the adventure starts. The relatively empty region south of Tulum is a delight to nature lovers, ruin buff... read more

My fascination with life and accomplishments of Santa Elena came to me accidentally this year, as I struggled to unravel the traditions and customs of one of Mexico's most popular Feast Days-May 3rd, t... read more