The Mummy Museum
During my travels in Mexico, we had the opportunity to visit the city of Guanajuato in Central Mexico, home of the Festival Internacional Cervantino - The International Cervantes Festival, which was the original purpose of the trip. But, it was also home to El Museo de las Momias. We were going to get to visit a real mummy museum! That interested me much more...
When I first heard that our itinerary included a trip to El Museo de las Momias, a picture flashed into my mind of Boris Karloff, all wrapped in strips of rotting cloth...the mummy we've all come to know and love. But, as we arrived and entered, I found it was not exactly what I had expected or pictured. These mummies were not wrapped in rotting cloth; these mummies, for the most part, were fully clothed! One of the tiny little babies was still in it's diaper, which was totally preserved.
These people had actually lived and died there in Guanajuato. And, because of a local law which required their relatives to pay a grave tax, these people found themselves relocated and put on display!
Between the years of 1865 and 1958, you could pay a one time tax of $170 pesos - the equivalent, more or less, of $17 US. Although seventeen dollars sounds like a minuscule amount of money, not everyone could afford to pay the tax. They were, however, offered an option - you could pay a yearly tax fee of $50 pesos (approximately $5) for three years and your loved ones would remain buried. Many of the less wealthy Mexicans were able to choose this option.
But, there was a catch - isn't there always a catch???? IF you could not pay your yearly $50 peso tax for the full three years, your loved one would be dug up from the cemetery and they would lose their right to the burial place! They were given one more opportunity to pay, and if the family was still unable to do so, the bodies or bones were stored in a building.
Ninety percent of the bodies were disinterred because their relatives could not afford to pay the tax. Of those dug up, only 2% were naturally mummified. What eventually happened to those bodies that had not mummified, I do not know...but it's sad to think of the possibilities.
Word got out and by the 1900's, the bodies were starting to attract tourists. Mexicans, always the entrepreneurs, saw an opportunity to make a few extra pesos. The cemetery workers began charging to allow these tourists to view the mummies and this eventually became the official museum in 1894.
Fortunately, in 1958, they changed that particular law and no new bodies were exhumed or added to the museum, but today the museum still displays the original bodies...
You would think that all of the mummies displayed would be of Mexican descent, but the very first mummy put on display was Dr. Remigio Leroy, a french doctor. He still had his brown coat on as well as his boots!
One unusual, and gruesome, mummy was that of Ignacia Aguilar. Unfortunately, she was buried alive! Ignacia suffered from a strange sickness that would make her heart appear to stop for one day. This happened on several occasions. During one of these incidents, her relatives thought she was truly dead this time and decided to have her buried. When they disinterred her body (for non-payment), they found her facing down, biting her arm and a lot of blood in her mouth.
When I first heard that our itinerary included a trip to El Museo de las Momias, a picture flashed into my mind of Boris Karloff, all wrapped in strips of rotting cloth...the mummy we've all come to know and love. But, as we arrived and entered, I found it was not exactly what I had expected or pictured. These mummies were not wrapped in rotting cloth; these mummies, for the most part, were fully clothed! One of the tiny little babies was still in it's diaper, which was totally preserved.
These people had actually lived and died there in Guanajuato. And, because of a local law which required their relatives to pay a grave tax, these people found themselves relocated and put on display!
Between the years of 1865 and 1958, you could pay a one time tax of $170 pesos - the equivalent, more or less, of $17 US. Although seventeen dollars sounds like a minuscule amount of money, not everyone could afford to pay the tax. They were, however, offered an option - you could pay a yearly tax fee of $50 pesos (approximately $5) for three years and your loved ones would remain buried. Many of the less wealthy Mexicans were able to choose this option.
But, there was a catch - isn't there always a catch???? IF you could not pay your yearly $50 peso tax for the full three years, your loved one would be dug up from the cemetery and they would lose their right to the burial place! They were given one more opportunity to pay, and if the family was still unable to do so, the bodies or bones were stored in a building.
Ninety percent of the bodies were disinterred because their relatives could not afford to pay the tax. Of those dug up, only 2% were naturally mummified. What eventually happened to those bodies that had not mummified, I do not know...but it's sad to think of the possibilities.
Word got out and by the 1900's, the bodies were starting to attract tourists. Mexicans, always the entrepreneurs, saw an opportunity to make a few extra pesos. The cemetery workers began charging to allow these tourists to view the mummies and this eventually became the official museum in 1894.
Fortunately, in 1958, they changed that particular law and no new bodies were exhumed or added to the museum, but today the museum still displays the original bodies...
You would think that all of the mummies displayed would be of Mexican descent, but the very first mummy put on display was Dr. Remigio Leroy, a french doctor. He still had his brown coat on as well as his boots!
One unusual, and gruesome, mummy was that of Ignacia Aguilar. Unfortunately, she was buried alive! Ignacia suffered from a strange sickness that would make her heart appear to stop for one day. This happened on several occasions. During one of these incidents, her relatives thought she was truly dead this time and decided to have her buried. When they disinterred her body (for non-payment), they found her facing down, biting her arm and a lot of blood in her mouth.
The whole feel of the museum was mysterious and spooky....the music had an eerie feel to it. It was an experience that I'll never forget. I did get several pictures and they're tucked away in my file as a memory of one of my most unusual, and memorable trips I've ever taken!
What's the most unusual or memorable trip that YOU'VE ever taken????
What's the most unusual or memorable trip that YOU'VE ever taken????
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