Museo Nacional del Virreinato, Central Mexico and Gulf Coast, Mexico

5Marco_Polo499 5:00 PM Mar 13, 2015

An extraordinary church + an entertaining museum
The former Jesuit College of Tepotzotlán is an extremely interesting religious complex, which is listed as "World Heritage" by the UNESCO. Its church (San Francisco Javier = St. Francis Xavier) is one of the most beautiful and impressive of Mexico and justifies a trip to Tepotzotlán. The Museum established in the College is pleasant and entertaining. The College was built in 1580 and continued its activities until 1767, when the Jesuits were banned from Mexico. The College was then used for various purposes: school, nursing home for old priests and even prison. Finally, in 1964, it was converted into the “Muséo Nacional del Virreinato” (National Museum of the Viceroyalty), where art, documentation and memorabilia of the colonial period are shown. The building is impressively grandiose. The museum contains very beautiful art works and historical artefacts, which are pleasantly displayed; however the exhibit appeared to me more entertaining than educational. The most striking part of the complex is the church of St. Francis Xavier. It is decorated in marvellous Churrigueresque style, both outside and inside. The exterior (visible from the Zócalo) has one of the most beautiful façades of Mexico. The interior is completely covered (wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling) by altarpieces, paintings and other decorations; everything is gold plated. The extreme richness and beauty of the church leave the visitor absolutely breathless, and the church can be easily apprised as one of the great wonders of Mexico. The church is not any more in use and is managed as an appendage to the museum: consequently, its interior can only be visited after paying the admission ticket to the museum. The College also contains another church, to be used by the novices; although it is not at par with St. Francis Xavier, it is nevertheless remarkable for its beauty. The complex is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., except on Monday; admission is 62 Pesos (about 4.4 US$), and is free on Sunday. The visit takes from one to two hours. The infrastructures include: cloak-room, toilets, small shop; there are no seats. It is allowed to take pictures, but the light may not be optimal, especially in the churches.Plan to stay a couple of hours. Tepotzotlán is included in the official list of “pueblos mágicos de México” (magic villages of Mexico). The large Zócalo in front of the Museum is pleasant and always busy; on Sunday there is a big open-air market; it is mainly intended for tourists, but it displays rather interesting local products; it is a safe place to stroll about and the vendors do not annoy the potential customers. Tepotzotlán is located about 40 kilometres north of Mexico City, and can be easily visited in the course of the day. There are different travel options; the following one was suggested by the concierge of my hotel, as the most appropriate one for my comfort and my safety; the total travel time is about 1½ hours. 1) Go to the railway station "Buenavista", at the corner "Insurgentes Norte" with "Eje 1 Norte". You can go by taxi. Alternatively you can take the Metro line B, or the "Metrobus" (both stop at the station). The station is modern and safe. 2) Take the train to Cuautitlán. It is a modern and fast train, departing every few minutes. Tickets are sold at the ticket-window ("taquilla") and the return ticket costs 43 Pesos (about 3.1 US $). 3) Cuautitlán is the last stop of the line. The ride takes about 20 minutes. The station of Cuautitlán is modern; trains arrive on the first floor of the station; buses and taxis depart from the ground floor. 4) Buses to Tepotzotlán depart about every half an hour, are slow and not very comfortable. The travel time is about 30 minutes and they stop just in front of the Museum. They cost 10 Pesos (about 0.6 US $). Possibly you can take a taxi.

5HPNTraveller 5:00 PM Dec 1, 2013

Definitely see the Church
I arranged a private tour to Tepotzotlan and Tula based on recommendations from TripAdvisor. It was worth seeing the Church not only on the outside but also on the inside - it is stunning. There are other chapels connected to the church and all of them are richly decorated and equally spectacular. We spent nearly 3 hours visiting the museum, the church and the grounds of this former convent. When we were there, there were a lot of out of town locals visiting, so I guess this is one of their "gems" that very foreigners know about - even the guide book that I had with me only had a few paragraphs written about it. Do note that all the signs are in Spanish - so, for me, it was worth hiring the private guide to do the translation..