Sights in Western Central Highlands
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Tonalá
This dusty, bustling suburb is about 13km southeast of downtown Guadalajara and home to even more artisans. You can feel this town beginning to take Tlaquepaque's lead, with a few airy, inviting showrooms and cafés opening around town, but it remains happily rough around the edges. It's fun to roam through the dark, dusty stores and workshops. Anything you can buy in Tlaquepaque, you can find here for much less, which is what attracts wholesale buyers from all over the world.
On Thursday and Sunday, Tonalá bursts into a huge street market that sprouts on Av Tonaltecas and crawls through dozens of streets and alleys and takes hours to explore. This is where wholesale meet…
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Catedral
Morelia's beautiful cathedral (unforgettable when it's lit up at night) dominates the plaza and took more than a century to build (1640−1744), which explains its combination of Herreresque, baroque and neoclassical styles.
The twin 70m-high towers, for instance, have classical Herreresque bases, baroque midsections and multicolumned neoclassical tops. Inside, much of the baroque relief work was replaced in the 19th century with neoclassical pieces. Fortunately, one of the cathedral's interior highlights was preserved: a sculpture of the Señor de la Sacristía made from dried corn paste and topped with a gold crown from 16th-century Spanish king Felipe II. It also has a w…
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Paraninfo
West of the city center, where Avenidas Juárez and Federalismo meet, is shady Parque Revolución, which has become a haven for pierced skaters. Three blocks further west is the Paraninfo, one of the main buildings of the Universidad de Guadalajara (UDG).
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Cathedral
Guadalajara’s twin–towered cathedral is the city’s most beloved and conspicuous landmark. Begun in 1558 and consecrated in 1618, it’s almost as old as the city itself. And it’s magnificent. Time it right and you’ll see light filter through stained glass renderings of the Last Supper and hear a working pipe organ rumble sweetly from the rafters. The interior includes Gothic vaults, massive Tuscany-style gold-leaf pillars and 11 richly decorated altars that were given to Guadalajara by King Fernando VII of Spain (1814–33). Its crucifix is one of the most subtle and tasteful in Mexico (Jesus isn’t white!). The glass case nearest the north entrance is an extremely popular…
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Reserva Mariposa Monarca
In the eastern-most corner of Michoacán, straddling the border of México state, lies the incredible 563-sq-km Monarch Butterfly Reserve, the site of the butterfly Burning Man. Every autumn, from late October to early November, millions of monarch butterflies flock to these forested Mexican highlands for their winter hibernation, having flown all the way from the Great Lakes region of the US and Canada, some 4500km away. As they close in on their destination they gather in gentle swarms, crossing highways and fluttering up steep mountainsides where they cling together in clusters that weigh down thick branches of the oyenal (fir) trees. When the sun rises and warms the f…
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Museo Regional de Guadalajara
This must-see museum has an eclectic collection covering the history and prehistory of western Mexico. Displays in the ground-floor natural history section include the skeleton of a woolly mammoth. The archaeological section has some well-preserved figurines, along with many fine artifacts of ceramic, silver, gold and other materials.
Upstairs are galleries of colonial paintings, a history gallery covering the area since the Spanish conquest, and an ethnography section with displays about indigenous life in Jalisco. The museum building, the former seminary of San José, is a late-17th-century baroque structure with two stories of arcades and several courtyards holding hidd…
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Parque Nacional Barranca del Cupatitzio
This incomparable urban park is just 1km west of the main plaza, but it’s another world. Nature is big here. Tropical and subtropical foliage (including burly banana palms) is thick and alive with colorful birds and butterflies. The river boils over boulders, cascades down waterfalls and spreads into wide, crystalline pools. Cobbled paths follow the riverbanks from its source at the Rodilla del Diablo pool, near the park’s north end. There are a few fruit stands and taquerias to choose from and water from hidden springs peels off the surrounding hillsides, before flowing into the great river. There’s even a trout farm where you can net your own catch.
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Museo de Artes Populares
This folk art museum is housed on the former site of the Colegio de San Nicolás, arguably the Americas’ first university, founded by Quiroga in 1540. The building was constructed on pre-Hispanic stone foundations, some of which can be seen behind the museum courtyards. Highlights of the impressive permanent collection include a room set up as a typical Michoacán kitchen, cases of gorgeous jewelry, and an entire room filled with retablos – crudely rendered devotional paintings offering thanks to God for saving the owner from illness or accident. Some are quite gory. Also don’t miss the wooden troje (traditional Purépecha house) in the garden.
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Basílica de Zapopan
Zapopan’s pride and joy, the Basílica de Zapopan, built in 1730, is home to Nuestra Señora de Zapopan, a petite statue of the Virgin visited by pilgrims year-round. The faithful get extreme during the Fiestas de Octubre, when thousands of kneeling old women crawl behind as the statue is carried here from Guadalajara’s central cathedral. The kneeling pilgrims then make the final trek up the basilica’s aisle to pray for favors at her altar. The Virgin receives a new car each year for the procession, but the engine is never turned on (thus remaining ‘virginal’). It’s hauled by men with ropes.
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Ihuatzio Archaeological Site
The large and partially restored Ihuatzio archaeological site lies just more than 1km up a cobbled road from the village’s small plaza. The ruins’ best attraction is an open ceremonial space. It is 200m long and features two pyramid-like structures at its west end. Climbing the pyramids is forbidden, but it is possible to walk to the top of the restored wall to their left (south) for good views. Two carved stone coyotes were found at the site; one is in the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City, the other graces the bell tower of Ihuatzio’s church.
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Museo Casa Natal de Morelos
The Museo Casa Natal de Morelos is on the corner of Calles Corregidora and García Obeso. This is where José María Morelos y Pavón was born on September 30, 1765. He was one of the most important heroes in Mexico’s struggle for independence. He is almost like a king, at least it seems that way when you consider how many monuments, statues, plazas and murals the man has earned. Morelos memorabilia includes old photos and documents. An eternal torch burns next to the projection room. Free international films and cultural events are occasionally held here.
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Casa de Los Once Patios
This cool, rambling colonial edifice was built as a Dominican convent in the 1740s. (Before that, the site held one of Mexico’s first hospitals, founded by Vasco de Quiroga.) Today it houses small artesanías (handicrafts) shops, each specializing in a particular regional craft. Look for copperware from Santa Clara del Cobre and musical instruments from Paracho, as well as lacquerware, hand-painted ceramics and vibrant textiles. You’ll likely find privacy on the top floors where you can take in the surrounding natural and architectural beauty.
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Cerámica Tzintzuntzan
Cerámica Tzintzuntzan is a converted missionary hospital that is now the rustic ceramics studio of Manuel Morales, a fifth-generation local potter. His colorful, intricate work is sold in galleries throughout Mexico and the US. Inside you’ll see ceramics in all stages of production and a cool, underground showroom in the back. Prices are high but the man is a master. Morales gives classes and accepts apprentices as well. If you want to become a potter, you’d have a hard time finding a more creative learning environment, or a more qualified teacher.
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Tingambato
Stroll through luscious avocado groves to the beautiful ruins of this ceremonial site, which predates the Tarascan empire and thrived from about AD 450 to 900. They are located outside of Tingambato village, about 30km from Uruapan on the road to Pátzcuaro. The ruins, which include two plazas, three altars and a ball court (rare in western Mexico), have a Teotihuacán influence. There’s also an 8m-high stepped pyramid and an underground tomb where a skeleton and 32 scattered skulls were found – hinting at beheading or trophy-skull rituals.
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Palacio de Gobierno & Museum
Next to the cathedral is the Palacio de Gobierno, built between 1884 and 1904. Local artist Jorge Chávez Carrillo painted the stairway murals to celebrate the 200th birthday of independence hero Miguel Hidalgo, who was once parish priest of Colima. The murals honor freedom fighters, the feminine, the indigenous roots and the beautiful land of Mexico.
There's a great collection of pottery in the first floor museum including some from 1500 BC and check out the case of ten ceramic frogs estimated by UCLA archaeologists to date from 600AD.
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Plaza Vasco de Quiroga
Pátzcuaro's leafy main plaza is one of Mexico's best hang out spots. It is framed by the 17th century facades of old mansions that have since been converted to hotels, shops and restaurants; and watched over by a serene statue of Vasco de Quiroga which rises from the central fountain. The sides of the plaza are named Portal Hidalgo (west side), Portal Aldama (south side) and Portal Matamoros (east side). The north side is Portal Allende east of Iturbe and Portal Morelos west of Iturbe.
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Palacio de Gobierno
The impressive Palacio de Gobierno, which houses state government offices, was finished in 1774. It’s a neo-classical building accented by more than a few Churrigueresque decorations and an enormous 1937 mural of Miguel Hidalgo looming over an interior stairway. Hidalgo brandishes a torch in one fist while the masses struggle at his feet. Another Orozco mural in the ex-Congreso (former Congress Hall) upstairs depicts Hidalgo, Benito Juárez and other historical luminaries.
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Parque Agua Azul
This green oasis, a large, leafy park about 20 blocks south of the city center, is a nice place to rehab from too much urbanity. There are benches and lawns to lounge upon and jogging trails aplenty, so bring a good book or some running shoes. And check out the Orchid House – the orchids look their best in October, November, April and May. Bus 60 (or any marked ‘Agua Azul’) heading south on Calzada Independencia will drop you here from the city center.
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Plaza de los Mariachis
Tucked behind the Templo Santa Eduviges near the intersection of Av Juarez and Calz Insurgentes, just south of Mercado San Juan de Dios, is the birthplace of mariachi music. By day it's just a narrow walking street, flanked by charming old buildings and dotted with a few plastic tables and chairs and the odd uniformed mariachi man chatting on a cell phone. At night it can get lively, when patrons swill beer and listen to bands play requests for about around $100 per song.
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Colegio de San Nicolás
Morelos studied at the Colegio de San Nicolás, one block west of the plaza. Don’t worry – it is not another museum, but it has become a foundation for the Universidad Michoacana. Upstairs, the Sala de Melchor Ocampo is a memorial to a Mexican hero, a reformer-governor of Michoacán. Preserved here is Ocampo’s library and a copy of the document he signed donating it to the college, just before he was executed by a conservative firing squad on June 3, 1861.
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Biblioteca Gertrudis Bocanegra
One of the coolest libraries of all time, the Biblioteca Gertrudis Bocanegra occupies the cavernous interior of the 16th-century San Agustín church. There are oyster-shell skylights and a massive colorful Juan O’Gorman mural on the rear wall that depicts the history of Michoacán from pre-Hispanic times to the 1910 revolution. It also has high-speed internet for just M$5 per hour and a huge collection of pulpy English paperbacks for sale (M$10 for four).
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Santuario de Guadalupe
On the northeast edge of Plaza Morelos, the Santuario de Guadalupe feels like the set piece from Willy Wonka's psychedelic spiritual dream. The pink and red walls of this baroque church built from 1708 to 1716 blooms with white flowers and glistens with an abundance of gold leaf. There's so much color, the interior (decorated in 1915) feels like a Hindu temple. It's the kind of place that would inspire Timothy Leary to do up Virgen de Guadalupe acid tabs.
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Palacio de Justicia
Across from the regional museum is the Palacio de Justicia, built between 1682 and 1695 to serve as the city hall. Its facade blends French and baroque styles and this place, too, is blessed with stairwell art in the courtyard. An Agustín Cárdenas mural portrays brave and heroic Morelos in action. A small two-room museum shares the history of Michoacán's justice system through old photos and papers (look for the grisly cadaver shots).
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Museo de los Cuatro Pueblos Indios
In the Huatápera, an old colonial courtyard building near the northeast corner of the central plaza, is this three-room museum. Built in the 1530s by Vasco de Quiroga, this relic once housed the first hospital in the Americas. The decorations around the doors and windows were carved by Purépecha artisans in a Mudejar style. The museum showcases regional artesanías, like ceramics from Capula and lacquerware from Quiroga.
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La Campana
The low, pyramid-like structures at this modest archaeological site date from as early as 1500 BC. They have been excavated and restored, along with a small tomb and a ball court (unusual in western Mexico). The structures are oriented due north toward Volcán de Fuego, which makes an impressive backdrop on clear days. It’s about 5km north of Colima city and easily accessible by buses 7 and 22; taxis cost M$30.
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