Parque-Museo La Venta is an outdoor archaeological park displaying the Olmec sculptures rescued from the ancient site of La Venta before oil extraction destroyed it in the 1950s. The park contains four colossal stone heads — portraits of Olmec rulers, each carved from a single basalt boulder and weighing up to 20 tonnes — along with altars, stelae, and a large mosaic jaguar mask buried in the earth. The sculptures are displayed among tropical vegetation, which makes for an atmospheric and slightly surreal experience: enormous stone heads gazing from jungle clearings.
The Olmec were Mesoamerica's first complex civilisation, flourishing between roughly 1500 and 400 BC. Their colossal heads are among the most recognisable artworks in pre-Columbian history. The park also has howler monkeys, deer, and other wildlife in enclosures around the sculptures, which is either charming or incongruous depending on your perspective. Allow two hours for a proper visit. Go early — the tropical heat and humidity are punishing by midday.