Sights in Coahuila
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Museo Del Desierto
Deserts cover about half of Mexican territory, and this excellent museum will teach you a lot about this biome even if you don't speak Spanish. Illuminating exhibits reveal why sea currents can create deserts and how sand dunes are formed. Children will also enjoy the collection of dinosaur fossils. There's also a reptile house with rattlesnakes and lizards, and a botanical garden with over 400 species of cactus.
Bus 18, running east down Aldama in the center, will drop you 1km downhill from the entrance.
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Catedral de Santiago
Built between 1745 and 1800, Saltillo’s cathedral, arguably the most beautiful in the north, dominates the Plaza de Armas and has one of Mexico’s finest Churrigueresque facades, with columns of elaborately carved pale-gray stone. The central dome features carvings of Quetzalcóatl, the Aztec rain god, and the carved wooden doors are also fantastic.
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Acuario y Herpetario Minckley
A block east of the Plaza de las Culturas is the interesting little Acuario y Herpetario Minckley, where many of the rare snakes, lizards, toads, turtles, fish, spiders and scorpions endemic to the reserve can be viewed. All the creatures in this education center are well looked after by a knowledgeable biologist.
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Centro Cultural Vito Alessio Robles
The book collection of the eponymous historian, now numbering 14,000 volumes from the 17th to 19th centuries, anchors the modest Centro Cultural Vito Alessio Robles. Come to see the striking mural of the city's history splashed across the courtyard, and since you're here take a look at the temporary art exhibits to the right.
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Museo de los Monos
The Museo de los Monos is the bizarre dream of José Cruz Hernández, who has created a low-budget wax museum of sorts with not even remotely lifelike statues of his ‘amigos, ’ including Freddy Krueger, Barack Obama and Favio Alejo, the Univision reporter who came for a look. It’s so bad that it’s good.
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Museo de las Aves de México
Mexico ranks tenth in the world in terms of avian diversity and this museum, a few blocks south of the plaza, displays over 760 stuffed and mounted species (names are given in English), some in convincing dioramas of their natural habitat. There are special sections on feathers, beaks, migration and similar subjects.
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Dunas de Yeso
Get up close with the Dunas de Yeso, where blinding-white gypsum sand dunes contrast superbly with the six mountain ranges that ring the valley. They can be seen from Hwy 30, but for an optimal visit, stop by after learning about the dune ecosystem at the Poza Azul visitors center first.
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Instituto Coahuilense de Cultura
Saltillo’s main cultural center, the beautiful Instituto Coahuilense de Cultura, on the south side of the plaza, often features good temporary exhibits by artists from Coahuila and beyond. It also hosts occasional concerts and has a bookstore and café.
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Iglesia del Santo Madero
The church perched precariously on the rocky outcrop on the south edge of town is Iglesia del Santo Madero. Locals insist the hill is an extinct volcano: geologists say it isn’t. It’s a short steep climb, but the expansive views are more than worth it.
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Casa de la Cultura
The Casa de la Cultura, in the former home of Venustiano Carranza, a revolutionary leader involved in the overthrow of Porfirio Díaz, has a small but interesting display of ancient objects unearthed in the area.
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Casa Purcell
Casa Purcell is located in a wonderful English neo-Gothic style 19th-century mansion. Besides temporary art exhibits, Casa Purcell hosts semi-regular rock concerts and art-house films.
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El Vesubio
El Vesubio, founded in 1891, is a much more quaint operation than Casa Madero. You’ll find just a few dozen wooden wine barrels and a little shop in front of the family home.
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Plaza de las Culturas
The city’s newest attraction is the Plaza de las Culturas with sculpture, murals and pyramids representing Mexico’s three main ancient cultures: Aztec, Olmec and Maya.
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Poza Azul visitors center
The Poza Azul visitors center, 8km out of town on Hwy 30, has illustrated displays about the reserve’s ecology in Spanish and English.
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