When Shane and Denise were here, we finally did some of the touristy things one is supposed to do while in Guanajuato - not the least of which is THE MUMMY MUSEUM.
I went fully expecting to be entranced and fascinated on some level. I thought maybe I would find some insight into the Mexican perspective on death, see some mystical beauty with deep indigenous roots, that would inspire me to delve deeper and possibly connect to my enchantment with Lucha Libre. But no - it was just a strangely sterile crypt with a bunch of dried up dead bodies lining the walls in glass cases, some with clothes, some without.
Many of them had little stories, on plaques written in first person, of how or when they were exhumed.
It definitely built a good case for cremation.
And is a perfect place to set up tourist stands.
There was also the Salon de Muerto. It was a long, narrow, stone room with glassed in cases built into the walls, containing death stuff - bones, shackles, torture devices… The best part was that they played a version of REM’s “Losing My Religion” sung by Monks. And there was a cool hologram.
A few days later we went to Valenciana, which is a little town just next to Guanajuato, with a lovely church and an ex Hacienda with a basement full of torture devices that you can take a tour of.
Our guide was a girl of about 13, with braces, tennis shoes and a monks robe. She took the group through stopping at each torture device and reciting how it was used.
It was surprisingly similar to the mummy museum, but they had a far superior hologram collection.
We walked up the road to the church after that and looked around. Crazy ornate gold stuff, everywhere. There was also a little room dedicated to Jesus.
Poor Jesus.
Right before Shane and Denise left we went to the Diego Rivera Museum (he was born here.) There were some beautiful paintings and interesting information about his life. No holograms though - we considered asking for our money back.
Now, I know I was right about not wanting to see the mummies when we were there. The reason for the mummies is that there are certain chemicals in the soil at the cemetary that mummify, I think it was less than 10% of the bodies. When the families of those buried there no longer pay the internment fees they are removed so that others can use the space. Those that are not mummified are then cremated. This information came from our tour guide who was going to take us to the museum but Steve and I declined.
I would very much like to see the mummies! And the holograms! And the room devoted to Jesus. No more torture!