La Milarca Museum

Mauricio Fernández Garza is a man of many interests. Part of the industrialist Garza Sada family, often called "Monterrey's wealthiest" (and one of the many Garza families from this city https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ex-cine-garza-former-garza-cinema ), Mauricio's career has mostly taken place in politics, having been senator for the state of Nuevo León and candidate as state governor. He has also worked in leadership positions of family enterprises like Grupo Alfa, but it's his hobbies rather than professions that have lead to his establishment of this museum.

With a massive collection of objects valued around USD$60 million, the displays on La Milarca Museum range from numismatics to paleonthology. His funding of projects in the latter have resulted in the naming of Mauriciosaurus fernandezi, a plesiosaur for which all known fossil specimens have come from Nuevo León. Mauriciosaurus fossils can be found in La Milarca as well as other Monterrey museums, with the Milarca specimen displayed in the building’s underground wunderkammer. This massive "cabinet of curiosities" houses the natural history collection along with part of the artworks and historical artifacts. Taxidermied birds therefore share these wall-to-ceiling displays with myriad other fossils, paintings by Mexican muralism icons and even a sword that belonged to conquistador Hernán Cortés.

Other collections take up the ground and upper floors, from the numismatics room featuring historical coins and banknotes from Mexico along some from abroad, to the pottery and handcraft displays. Of these, the highlight is the "México 86" collection, a series of works in clay made by some of the country's most renowned artisans for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, with Monterrey having been one of the host cities. For the 2026 World Cup, Monterrey is again planned to be one of 3 Mexican cities where games of the North America-hosted tournament will be played.

These upper galleries are also notable for their ceilings which, much like an example in Mexico City https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hellenic-cultural-institutes-coffered-ceiling are actually centuries-old and brought over from Spain. In addition to the ceilings, historical arches and and windowframes were also brought over after having been part of old buildings in Europe. Given Fernández's political career, there have been claims that part of the funds that built the museum might have been ill-gotten. With his family history, the fortune needed to amass the collection and house it in such a prominent building, the origin of La Milarca does seem unclear.