Guadalajara Attractions

This building is currently home to the library of the Royal University of Guadalajara. It was originally a church and was home to government offices prior to becoming a library.

In the finest of the four squares, the Plaza de Armas, stands the Government Palace (Palacio de Gobierno, 1643-1774), a splendid Baroque building with columns with zigzag ornamentation, large volutes and Churrigueresque "estípites" (pilasters). On the staircase and in one of the council chambers can be seen murals depicting Hidalgo in the War of Independence 1936-39, and heroes of the three great Mexican wars, 1948-49, by the famous fresco-painter José Clemente Orozco, a native of Jalisco.

On the Calzada Independencía Norte/Av. Flores Magón, 6km/4mi north of the city centre, the grounds of Guadalajara's zoo overlook the Santiago Gorge.

Four blocks east of the Theatre, by way of the newly-laid pedestrian zone known as the Plaza Tapatío, the Hospicio Cabañas, a Neo-Classical orphanage built by Manuel Tolsá at the beginning of the 19th c., boasts no fewer than twenty-three patios.

A little way from the Hospicio Cabañas, to the south of Plaza de Toros, is the huge Market Hall (Mercado Libertad) where, in addition to the usual wares, regional costumes and pottery, paper flowers, musical instruments and live birds are offered for sale.

In a former Jesuit seminary in the Plaza de la Rotunda, to the north of the Cathedral, stands the Museo Regional de Guadalajara. This museum covers a wide range, including the archaeology of the western states and west coast, ethnography (Huicholes, Cora Indians), paintings (colonial art of the 17th-19th c., European painters of the 18th-19th c., modern Mexican pictures and frescos), religious objects, historical collections and palaeontology.

The Museo Regional de Jalisco near the Plaza de Armas is worth a visit. It contains pre-Columbian finds and ethnographical exhibits. A meteorite weighing 800 kg (1764 lbs.) can also be seen.

This museum is home to exhibits from the pre-Hispanic times from the states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and Colima.

Once home to the University of Guadalajara this building now houses a fine art museum showcasing the work of artists from Jalisco.

In Avenida Vallarta to the west, at Av. Aceves 27 just past the Triumphal Arch, stands the former home and studio of the painter José Clemente Orozco (1883-1949), now the Orozco Museum with many paintings and drawings by the artist. Other frescos by Orozco, including scenes from Dante's "Inferno", can be seen in the auditorium of the University in Avenida Vallarta.

From here the Calzada Independencia leads south-west to the beautiful Parque Agua Azul, around which will be found the Casa de las Artesanías, where folk arts are exhibited and on sale, a small Anthropological Museum, an open-air theatre, a bird park, a flower market and the House of Culture.

Between Avenida Javier Mina and Calle Obregón lies the Plazuela de los Mariachis, a lane where mariachi orchestras demonstrate their skill and are available for hire.

To the south-east of the Museum, in the Plaza de la Liberación, stands the Teatro Degollado, a large Neo-Classical building with frescos by Gerardo Suárez in the dome showing scenes from Dante's "Divine Comedy".

This Baroque church has been added to since it was originally built in 1554.

This Baroque church was built in the 18th c. The church features towers and Corinthian columns.

Some 6km/4mi south-east of the city centre lies the suburb of San Pedro Tlaquepaque, with a small Ceramic Museum (Independencia 237) and shops selling ceramics etc. This was a great pottery centre even before the Conquest, and still is today.

Tonalá, 7 km/4.5mi south-east of Guadalajara, is noted for its fine pottery, in characteristic patterns and a variety of forms. It too has a Ceramic Museum (Constitución 4; market Thur./Sat.). The new Museum of Archaeology and Folk Art ("Tonalán") at C. Ramón Corona 73 was opened in 1997. On display are modern ceramics, pre-Columbian finds from Jalisco, masks, etc. In pre-Columbian times Tonalá was capital of the state of Tonalán.