Secretariat of Public Education

The On-Site Museum of the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) is located within the headquarters of the Secretariat of Public Education, next to the mural by Diego Rivera called Entrance to the Mine. This space was created in order to exhibit objects and remains of the past, discovered from 1989 to 1991 during the restoration works on buildings that integrate the architectural complex.

It’s divided into three areas:

* Pre-Hispanic Age: We can find here, among other pieces, a fragment of the amazing Cuauhxicalli dedicated to Lord Tlaltecutli, god or goddess of earth, also known as Sacred Monster of Earth.  

* Colonial Age: Here are nuns’ daily use objects, such as small utensils of girls who went to classes to the Conception Convent, pieces of the a Ming Dynasty porcelain tableware, brought to the New Spain by the Nao of China, plates, cups and spoon, religious objects and skeletons dressed with different object, among them outstands a trousseau integrated by a crown and a bouquet.

* Modern Age: We can see the transformation and adaptation process of the spaces of this colonial building through a photographic exhibition, as well as a bookcase that keeps samples of the first books that served to the lawyer José Vasconcelos, first Minister of Education, for alphabetizing. The photos detail chapters of the restoration of the architectural complex and the restoration process of the mural, damaged by the pass of time and by the 1985 earthquake. The room concludes with a magnificent model of the public building.