The Popol Vuh Museum offers the visitor a unique exploration of the history of Guatemala, illustrated with one of the best collections of pre-Columbian and colonial art in the country. The museum is a private, scientific, non-profit institution, incorporated to the Universidad Francisco Marroquín. Its objectives include the preservation, research and diffusion of information about the archaeological and cultural heritage of Guatemala.
The museum shelters one of the major collections of Maya art in the world. Among its collections stand out numerous examples of Classic period painted ceramics from Petén, the Verapaz, and other regions; an extraordinary collection of funerary urns from northwestern Guatemala; important examples of Preclassic and Classic period sculptures from Kaminaljuyu and the Pacific coast; a collection of incense burners found under the waters of Lake Amatitlan; and an excellent sample of ceramic flutes and whistles.
The Colonial section offers an important sample of silverwork, religious sculptures and colonial painting from Guatemala. In addition, the museum has an important sample of twentieth-century costumes and masks used in traditional dances, currently not on exhibition. The museum is named after the Popol Vuh, a book written soon after the Spanish conquest of Guatemala, which narrates the myths and pre-Columbian history of the Quiche, whose kings dominated a large territory in the Western highlands of Guatemala. The Popol Vuh Museum collection includes numerous objects that relate with the Popol Vuh myths.
The museum has educational activities addressed to elementary and high-school students, which include guided tours and workshops. The museum has an active program of conferences and courses open to the general public, and it sponsors research activities related with objects from its collections and with general research related with the archaeology, art and history of Guatemala. Occasionally, the museum publishes books related with these topics. The museum library offers its patrons a collection of more than 3000 volumes specializing in these areas. Through these and other programs, the museum reaches the general public in a permanent effort on behalf of Guatemalan culture.
