The Museo de la Cultura Maya is the city’s claim to cultural fame – a bold showpiece that's beautifully conceived and executed, though regrettably short on artifacts. It’s organized into three levels, mirroring Maya cosmology. The main floor represents this world, the upper floor the heavens and the lower floor Xibalbá, the underworld. The various exhibits cover all the Mayab (lands of the Maya). Though original pieces are in short supply, there are replicas of stelae and a burial chamber from Honduras’ Copán.
The museum’s courtyard, which you can enter for free, has salons for temporary exhibitions of modern artists. In the middle of the courtyard is a na (thatched hut) with implements of daily Maya life on display: gourds and grinding stones.
