Guanajuato is a charming colonial town nestled in the mountains of central Mexico. But don't be fooled by the brightly painted houses and tree-lined plazas. The place certainly has its dark side - most notably its major tourist attraction - "LAS MOMIAS." The mummies of Guanajuato are basically a bunch of bodies that were naturally mummified due to the soil conditions. People were sneaking into the basement of one of the churches to see them, so the city government decided they wanted to get in on the action and created a museum to house the dozens of bodies. How is it that one's body ends up getting dug up? All were buried in the city cemetery and didn't have relatives around to keep up on the payments. That would be the city's way of legitimizing digging up bodies and putting them on display sideshow-style. You may be a corpse, but there are no freeloaders here - gotta pay your way in Guanajuato!
Needless to say, the mummies are a huge hit, with tourists traveling from all over the country to check them out. Does the display say something about the Mexican attitude toward death? Maybe, but basically it's just all kind of creepy. For instance, the corpses of victims of scabbing, drowning and...being buried alive. Whoops, thought the cholera had done her in. Below are some shots of a few of the mummies. Scroll at your own risk.
And the topper? Infant mummies. The museum also boasts having the smallest mummy in the world - a mummified fetus removed from the mother. No way was I going to take a picture of that, so you'll just have to go and see for yourself.
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