Museo Casa de Piedra

The Museo Casa de Piedra (Stone House Museum) is housed in a building of dressed stone walls and a tiled roof that the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México completed in 1916 beside Apizaco station, as quarters for its track workers. It stands at Avenida Morelos 812, alongside the tracks, facing a level crossing. The setting fits a city that was born of the railway: in 1866 the engineers laying the Mexico City-Apizaco section set up a camp here, named it after the nearest village, San Luis Apizaco, and the camp eventually grew into the city.

The building became a museum on 23 February 2001, with the aim of telling the story of the railway as part of the history of Tlaxcala; the opening show was twelve paintings and two sculptures by the artist José Luis Piedras Dorantes. Today it has twelve permanent rooms in five areas: the Railway Museum, the Urban and Religious Museum, a room of the Apizaco Lions Club, the Bullfighting Museum, devoted to the bullfighting long practised in the city, and the Public Library. Three rooms hold permanent visual-arts exhibitions.

Among the pieces are original documents the city treasures: the appointment of Apizaco's first municipal president, the original plans of the Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy and the city coat of arms designed by Cutberto Escalante in 1966, plus a painting donated by Federico de la Gándara and Carlos González. The photo archive records the city's railway past. For children, a miniature train runs a circuit inside the museum grounds; the ride lasts about 40 minutes and is paid separately. The museum also hosts talks, competitions and activities in its sound archive and library.

A visit pairs well with a walk through central Apizaco and with La Maquinita, the old steam locomotive that greets people arriving in the city.