This Bogotá museum houses the world's largest collection of pre-Columbian gold relics.

This tiny shop has been serving traditional tamales for more than 200 years.

A crumbling cathedral condemned by an earthquake.

This staircase full of Mayan hieroglyphics is perhaps the largest single text in the world.

Colonial architecture meets urban art in this sprawling open-air gallery.

Three connected pink triangles memorialize persecuted gays and lesbians throughout history.

The attic of a four-century-old canal house hides a clandestine church.

It's not quite as old as its Roman appearance suggests, but this piece of infrastructure served Guatemala City for centuries.

This beautiful and unmissable little museum is full of fascinating artifacts from Mesoamerica's great civilizations.

The first public library in the Americas has more than 45,000 books dating back to the 15th century.

The splendor of this 17th century golden chapel has led it to be called the "eighth wonder of the world."

An Aztec temple, the largest man-made pyramid in the world, sits buried in earth with a Spanish church set on top.

Psychedelic murals coat the inside of a nondescript research library.

A gigantic, symbolic artwork covers the side of the building.

Its most enigmatic sculpture is a giantess with a ghostly face on her knee.

A fabulously bizarre surrealist sculpture by the late artist Leonora Carrington.

The collection of intricate sculptures includes one carved from a mammoth's tusk

These subterranean models show Mexico City's central square during three different eras.

The remains of an Aztec school and various intriguing artifacts lie below a modern cultural center.

This museum houses two of Mexico's most impressive Aztec monoliths.

This colossal ancient jaguar sculpture was used as a vessel for the hearts torn from sacrificial victims.

The turquoise-studded skull of a long-dead Aztec man sits within Mexico City’s Museum of Anthropology.

Once home to an aristocratic family and a workers' organization, this intricately tiled building now houses a chain restaurant.

These museum grounds are a Dalai Lama-declared peace oasis.