Museo de Sitio Casa de Juarez (House of Juarez Site Museum), Oaxaca

The House of Juárez Site Museum is a modest yet profoundly significant adobe dwelling where Benito Juárez-Mexico’s revered 19th-century president-spent his formative years from 1818 to 1828. Originally the home and binding workshop of Franciscan friar and bookbinder Antonio Salanueva, the simple single-story structure features two interior patios and a low-slung roof that belies the towering legacy of its most famous resident.

Young Juárez arrived in Oaxaca as Salanueva’s apprentice and servant, learning to read and write while immersed in the rhythms of the bookbinder’s trade. In this very workshop-recreated today with period presses, tools, and binding artifacts-visitors can almost hear the scratch of quills and feel the weight of bound tomes that shaped a future leader.

Acquired by the state government in 1906 to safeguard Juárez’s personal effects, the house opened as a museum in 1933 and was given a thorough museographic overhaul before reopening in 1974. Its compact galleries now display a compelling array of Benito memorabilia, original documents, and over 200 microfilms and facsimiles spanning the War of Independence, the Reform, and the French Intervention. Photographs and personal belongings bring the socio-political climate of 19th-century Mexico to life, offering insight into Juárez’s enduring impact on national identity.

Nestled amid tranquil courtyards and shaded patios, the museum invites quiet reflection-a fitting setting to consider the humble origins and remarkable journey of one of Mexico’s greatest statesmen.