Mexica. Offerings and gods at the Templo mayor

At the musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, there’s always something more to learn about an ancient culture… From next spring, it’s the turn of the Mexica civilisation to reveal its secrets. Take a trip to Mesoamerica to discover one of the Americas’ most powerful civilisations of the 13th and 14th centuries. Some 500 pieces await you in a modern, immersive and informative tour.

An exhibition unique in Europe

Within the walls of one of the world’s greatest museums devoted to civilisations, a mysterious people is unveiled. For the first time in Europe, a major exhibition deals with the Mexica civilisation (longtime known mistakenly as the Aztecs). Thanks to ongoing archaeological digs that began about 50 years ago, and with the collaboration of the National Anthropology and History Institute of Mexico, you’ll see some outstanding treasures here.

These artefacts tell us about the daily lives of the inhabitants of the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, their beliefs and rituals, and their relationship with the elements. You’ll be able to admire the many offerings they made to effigies of their most worshipped gods, as well as some remarkably well-conserved statues and sculptures. Among them is the enormous statue of Mictlantecuhtli, a god of the dead who stands 1.8 metres tall, giving us an idea of the role of the gods in Mexica religious culture.

Revelations about the Mexica people

A number of major discoveries have been made quite accidentally. In 1978 for example, an electricity company unearthed a gigantic circular monolith while digging a trench on a street in Mexico. The discovery of this piece more than 3 metres long, representing the goddess Coyolxāuhqui, triggered major archaeological digs and excavation work.

Spread over more than 40 years, this vast project uncovered some exceptional evidence of the Mexica culture and one of Mesoamerica’s best-kept secrets. Among the remains of the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, researchers discovered its sacred enclosure, the Templo Mayor, and unearthed 1.51 hectares, 14 buildings and over 200 offerings from this ancient civilisation. It was these offerings that revealed so much about their rituals of which specialists still knew so little. Finely sculpted in rich detail, they provided information about the political and economic influence that this people had in South America, before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in 1521, announcing their demise.

In every corner of the Paris Region, the museums and exhibitions invite you to make some unique cultural discoveries.