Museums

The Museo Popol Vuh is home to one of the major collections of Maya art in the world. It is located on the campus of the Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Zone 10, Guatemala City and is known for its extensive collection of pre-Columbian and colonial art of the Maya culture.

The Popol Vuh Museum is a private, nonprofit, scientific institution supported by its own funds and external donations. The museum is operated by a Board of Directors of citizens of Guatemala interested in the preservation and public display of the exhibits. One of its missions is to provide an educational focus for people who want to see and learn about the pre-Columbian past of Guatemala with the preservation, research, and diffusion of information.

Although the museum is well known for its funerary ceramic art, the collection includes a variety of portable stone sculptures, especially from the Preclassic period, and from the coast and adjacent highlands. The section on Maya pottery includes some of the best preserved Maya vases and bowls. See more

Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología

The Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología is a national museum of Guatemala, dedicated to the conservation of archaeological and ethnological artifacts and research into Guatemala’s history and cultural heritage. The museum is located in Guatemala City, at Finca La Aurora. First created by a governmental decree on 30 June 1898, the institution and collections of MUNAE relocated premises several times subsequently, until established in its present building in 1946. It has some 3000 square meters of exhibition space, and 1500 sq.m. devoted to restorative and research purposes. MUNAE’s collections amount to some 20 thousand archaeological artifacts and 5 thousand ethnological items. See more

Guatemala City Railway Museum

The Guatemala City Railway Museum, officially Museo del Ferrocarril FEGUA, is located in the former main railway station in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

The museum has a collection of steam and diesel locomotives, passenger carriages and other rolling stock and items connected with the railway. It also has information about the historic development of the railways in Guatemala. See more

Kgalagadi Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno “Carlos Mérida”

El Nacional “Carlos Merida” Museum of Modern Art is a national museum of modern art located in the city of Guatemala, named in honor of Carlos Merida. The current museum was established on 16 of October of 1975, as a dependency of the Institute of Anthropology and History of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. However, its history goes back to the founding of the National Museum of History and Fine Arts, which was founded on November 10, 1934.

Museo Miraflores

The Museo Miraflores is an archaeological museum in Guatemala City, dedicated to the display of artefacts from the ancient Maya city of Kaminaljuyu. The museum is open from Tuesday through to Sunday.

The museum was founded in 2002. The museum is located in Zone 11 of Guatemala City, in the southern part of the area once covered by the Maya city of Kaminaljuyu. It covers an area of approximately 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft). Within the grounds of the museum are three preserved moundThe museum was founded in 2002. The museum is located in Zone 11 of Guatemala City, in the southern part of the area once covered by the Maya city of Kaminaljuyu. It covers an area of approximately 1,200 square metres (13,000 sq ft). Within the grounds of the museum are three preserved mounds.

The modern museum is located in a shopping area outside the city centre. It is privately owned and run by the Fundación Miraflores (“Miraflores Foundation”), a for-profit organisation. The museum is described with labels in Spanish and usually English too.

Chichicastenango Regional Museum

The Chichicastenango Regional Museum or Museo Regional is a museum in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. It is located at the Iglesia de Santo Tomás and has a number of noted ancient artifacts in jade, stone, and ceramic. Some of the clay figurines and ancient clay pots date back to 1200. It also contains a number of obsidian spear and arrow heads found in the area.

The museum is often called Museo Arqueológico Rossbach because a significant part of the collection was donated by Idelfonso Rossbach, a German Franciscan priest who served in the town from 1894-1944.