Guadalajara

Built as an orphanage, its dome carries the Man of Fire mural by Orozco. Reclining benches are set out so the ceiling can be looked at lying back.

Pottery and glass workshops fill this district along a pedestrian street. Old houses with inner courtyards became the shops, so it is quiet once you step inside.

Bands wait in the square for customers and quote a price by the song. Evening brings the most people, with several groups playing at once.

One hour out by road, and the drink carries the name of this place. Blue agave covers the hills, and several distilleries work inside the town.

Two yellow tiled spires show from a distance, both rebuilt after an earthquake. Inside there is a silver altar and paintings brought from Europe.

On Thursday and Sunday the whole town fills with stalls of pottery. Workshops sell directly, which puts the prices under the shops.

A covered market on three levels with the whole upper floor given to food counters. Shoes, leather and spices each take their own level.

The largest lake in the country, forty five minutes away by road. Two lakeside towns are known as places where foreign retirees settle.

Opened in 1866, with scenes from Dante painted across the ceiling. On weekend mornings a local dance company performs at a low price.

A nineteenth century burial ground where a guide tells the story attached to each tomb. An evening tour runs separately and its tickets are bought beforehand.

The plaza beside the cathedral's south flank; its iron bandstand was cast in Paris and brought over in 1910. Female figures holding instruments support the roof on every column. The state band gives free concerts here.

A Baroque government building east of the Plaza de Armas. Climb the central staircase and Orozco's 1937 mural of Father Hidalgo spreads overhead, the torch-raising priest filling the entire stairwell vault. Entry is free.

A Neo-Gothic church begun in 1897 and finished more than 70 years later. Its tower clock holds figures of the twelve apostles; at set hours a door opens and they file round. At those moments people gather in the square below, heads tilted up.

A ring of stone columns in the park north of the cathedral, the resting place of writers, musicians and politicians born in the state. Their bronze statues stand around it. Right in the centre, it is seen on foot along with the cathedral.

A canyon that plunges suddenly where Guadalajara ends to the north, a stone-stepped trail leading down to the Santiago River. Going down takes about an hour, but the climb back is far harder; bring lots of water. Start at dawn to dodge midday.

Ruins on a hill at Teuchitlan, roughly sixty minutes west by car. Unlike pyramids elsewhere, they are round stepped mounds, ringed by smaller platforms like spokes on a wheel. A central pole is thought to have held men who swung around it in ritual.

Home of the Virgin of Zapopan, the image Jalisco holds dearest. Before dawn on 12 October more than a million people walk behind her as she is carried here from the cathedral, dancers leading the way. Souvenir stalls line the plaza out front.

Riders in charro dress compete at handling horses and cattle with the rope, a tradition UNESCO listed as intangible heritage in 2016. Jalisco is its heartland, and city arenas hold events every weekend. Women's teams riding sidesaddle are on the programme too.