Mexico City Wax Museum / Museo de Cera

The Mexico City Wax Museum opened in 1979. Installed in a lavish house, it’s one of the few standing works of the architect Antonio Rivas Mercado (1853-1927). The designer of the Angel of Independence on the Paseo de la Reforma, Rivas Mercado worked on this house from roughly 1900 until 1904. The architect’s own home opened as a museum not far away in the colonia Guerrero.

The house was then occupied by one José Natividad Macías Casterona, a famed constitutional lawyer. It was abandoned for a few years after his death, and then served as a restaurant. For a short time, it  housed the offices of the National Center for Research, Documentation and Musical Information of what is today the INBAL.

Only at the end of the 1970s, was the house acquired to house the Wax Museum. The prior owners had obtained official authorization to demolish it. The building is currently recognized by the City as a Historical Heritage site. The stained glass windows, stairways, parquet floors, crystal chandeliers and some period furniture, were are purchased to match the era of the house’s construction.

The wax museum today is home to many of the historical and entertainment figures that one hopes to find in a wax museum. The group running the museum operate similar institutions in Guadalajara and Veracruz, as well as the Ripley’s Museum practically next door.

Hours: Monday through Sunday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.