11 Most Popular UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mexico

The beautiful country of Mexico tops the list in the Americas when it comes to UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Worldwide, it ranks number seven. No wonder Mexico is a very popular destination.

Apart from the Heritage Sites, Mexico also has 9 traditions and celebrations in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Mexico. These include indigenous festivals such as the Day of the Dead, the Parachicos of Chiapa de Corzo, the ancient ritual of Danza de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers), and the Peña de Bernal. The pilgrimage of Zapopan, the Mariachi, the charrería, and the traditional song of the P’urhépechas, as well as the traditional Mexican cuisine, also belong to this list.

Currently, there are 35 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mexico. These include 27 cultural sites, 6 natural, and a couple mixed. In addition to the already inscribed sites, the country has 21 more properties on UNESCO’s tentative list, considered for future nomination.

As it would be quite difficult to see them all in a single trip, let’s check out some of the most popular UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mexico, divided in three criteria.

11 Most Popular UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mexico

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Cultural UNESCO Heritage Sites in Mexico

1. Teotihuacán

A pre-Hispanic city located 48 kilometers northeast of Mexico City, Teotihuacán is one of the archaeological sites with the longest history of exploration in the country. Its name is Nahuatl for “the place where gods were created.”

Given a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation in 1987, Teotihuacán is hands down the most popular archaeological site in Mexico with over 4 million people visiting per year.

Teotihuacán was the largest urban center of Mesoamerica almost a thousand years before the time of the Aztecs. The city was already in ruins by the time they came. Teotihuacán is believed to have been built by the ancient Toltec people.

Based on the artifacts discovered in the city, experts have determined that Teotihuacán was a wealthy trade metropolis during its heydays. The city exported fine obsidian tools such as spear and dart heads. Teotihuacan monopolized the obsidian trade back in the time as the most important deposit in Mesoamerica was located not far from the city.

The most significant structure in Teotihuacán is Pyramid of the Sun, believed to have been constructed about 100 CE. It was a sacred place of exceptional value with the sacrifices practiced by Moctezuma on the site.

The Pyramid of the Sun is certainly one of the largest structures of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, rising 66 meters above ground level and measuring approximately 220 x 230 meters at its base.

Read More: Teotihuacan Pyramids Guide

2. Uxmal

The pre-Hispanic town of Uxmal in northwest Yucatán was an important Maya city that thrived between the 6th and 10th centuries.

Uxmal was abandoned in circa 1200AD, possibly due to drought. It was then inhabited by the Yiu people. Uxmal continued to exist until the Spaniards came in the middle of the 16th century. The city was once again abandoned and this time for good.

Uxmal, the second-most visited archaeological park in Mexico, has undergone extensive restorations and is now deemed the best preserved of all sites of Mayan ruins. The main ruins in Uxmal – which include ornate carvings, friezes, and sculptures embedded in the architecture – cover about 150 acres.

For its outstanding universal value, Uxmal was put on UNESCO’s World Heritage List of Cultural Properties in 1996. Its present name is derived from Oxmal, which means “three times built.”

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3. Chichén Itzá

Chichén Itzá, an archaeological site with excavated ruins of the great Maya city, is found in the Tinúm Municipality in the Mexican state of Yucatán.

Chichén Itzá was a sacred city of pyramids and temples for the ancient Mayan people. The temples there were designed to be used for Mayan rituals and as calendars, which proved how extraordinarily knowledgeable the Mayans were in mathematics as well as astronomy since those temples were used to track celestial events. Chichén Itzá was ultimately developed into a center of political and economic power for the Mayans.

The most important pyramid in Chichén Itzá is called the Temple of Kukulcán, or El Castillo. Kukulcán was the feathered serpent god who was particularly important for the Yucatec Maya. He was a creator deity who also brought rain and winds, and was closely related to the god Quetzalcoat who was worshipped by the Aztecs and in other Mesoamerican cultures.

Kukulcán’s pyramid in Chichén Itzá was constructed sometime between the 8th century and the 12th century by the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is believed to have been built there due to its close proximity to the Xtoloc cenote.

UNESCO designated Chichén Itzá with the title “World Heritage Site” in 1998. In 2007, the site was voted one of the “New 7 Wonders of the World.”

With some 2 million annual visitors, Chichén Itzá is without a doubt one of the most popular UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mexico.

Read More: Chichen Itza Guide

4. El Tajín

In 1992, the archaeological area of El Tajín was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its cultural importance and its architecture, having been the most significant site of its kind in the Mexican state of Veracruz since the 1970s.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit El Tajín annually, making it one of the most popular UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Mexico.

El Tajín was named after the Totonac rain god. No one is exactly sure who built it, but a popular theory is that the ancestors of the Huastec and Totonac indigenous peoples living in the area to this day founded and inhabited the city from 800 AD to 1200 AD.

The ruins of El Tajín were discovered in the late 18th century and excavated from 1938 to 1963. The architecture discovered includes decorative niches and cement in forms not known in the rest of Mesoamerica.

Read More: El Tajin Guide

5. Guanajuato

Located in the center of Mexico, Guanajato is the capital of its namesake state. One of the reasons the city has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site is because of its beautiful examples of Baroque architecture in America, including the truly stunning Templo de la Compania church.

Also famous for being the birthplace of Mexico’s most celebrated muralist Diego Rivera, the historic town of Guanajuato with its fine Baroque and neoclassical buildings and the adjacent mines are a UNESCO protected area since 1988. This part of Mexico has long been a well-known silver producer.

Guanajuato was established by the Spanish in the early 1500s. Around 200 years later, it became the world’s leading silver mining center. This part of Guanajuato’s history may be seen in its so-called subterranean streets and the 600-meter mineshaft which locals call the “Boca del Inferno.”

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6. Oaxaca and Monte Alban

Monte Alban and its surrounding structures such as pyramids, terraces, dams, canals, and artificial mounds were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

With a history of inhabitants dating back to more than 1,500 years, Monte Alban has come to symbolize a sacred topography.

The neighboring city of Oaxaca, the capital of the eponymous Mexican state, was also included in the prestigious list of Mexico’s World Heritage Sites by UNESCO for its excellent Spanish colonial town planning.

7. Historic Center of Mexico City and Xochimilco

The historic center of Mexico City and Xochimilco have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

The Spanish built Mexico City on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, the old Aztec capital, in the 16th century.

Today the Mexican capital is one of the world’s largest and most densely populated cities in the world.

Mexico City houses five Aztec temples erected before the Great Pyramid, a cathedral which is the largest in North America, and impressive 19th- and 20th-century buildings like the Palacio de las Bellas Artes.

Mexico City’s Aztec temples include the monumental complex of the Templo Mayor and the gigantic monolith of Coyolxauhqui, which symbolized the end of the old cosmogony and the advent of the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli. Some floating gardens called the chinampas are still seen here.

Xochimilco lies 28 km. south of Mexico City. It has an awe-inspiring network of canals and artificial islands, which bear witness to the efforts of the ancient Aztecs to establish a habitat despite the unfavorable surroundings.

Its urban and rural structures, constructed fom the 16th century until the colonial period have been exceptionally preserved and are truly deserving of the World Heritage Site designation.

Natural UNESCO Heritage Sites in Mexico

8. Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve

Sian Ka’an, which means “Origin of the Sky” in the languange of its ancient Mayan inhabitants, is located on the east coast of the Yucatán peninsula, in the easternmost Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve has been protected by UNESCO since 1987.

Sian Ka’an houses mangroves and marshes, tropical forests, and a great marine section intersected by the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef.

It is home to a great number of plant and animal species cohabiting in the diverse environment created by Sian Ka’an’s complex hydrological system.

9. Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993, the Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino is located along the Pacific shores of the Baja California peninsula in northwestern Mexico.

Whale Sanctuary of El Vizcaino is home to a number of some interesting ecosystems. California sea lions, North Pacific grey whales, blue whales, harbor seals, and northern elephant seals breed and hibernate in the coastal lagoons of Ojo de Liebre and San Ignacio. These lagoons are also the sanctuary of four endangered species of the marine turtle.

Visitors can watch whales from local fishermen’s boats on Laguna San Ignacio. This is a very popular activity in the area.

Mixed UNESCO Heritage Sites in Mexico

10. Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of Calakmul

Located in Campeche in the central-southern portion of theYucatán Peninsula in the south of Mexico, this mixed heritage site contains the remnants of Calakmul. Calakmul was an important Maya city found deep in the tropical forest of the Tierras Bajas.

Calakmul played a key role in the history of this region for over 1,200 years. The site has well-preserved structures which give visitors a glimpse of the lifestyle of the ancient Mayans who lived here. It also falls within the Mesoamerica biodiversity hotspot, which is the third largest in the world.

Given a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation in 2014, Ancient Maya City and Protected Tropical Forests of Calakmul is fast becoming a favorite among visitors.

11. Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018, Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Valley in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains is the originary habitat of Mesoamerica.

The site is very important, thanks to its impressive floristic diversity, which debunks the popular belief that southern Mexico’s dry tropical regions are poor in biodiversity.

The Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve houses one of the few areas of cloud forest that can be found in the country.

Among the most exceptional ecological features of this protected area is its columnar cactus forest. It is one of the world’s highest concentrations of columnar cacti with 45 of the 70 species reported in Mexico.