3 Best Sights in Zapopan, Guadalajara

This vast church with an ornate plateresque facade and Mudejar (Moorish) tile dome was consecrated in 1730. It's home to the Virgin (or Our Lady) of Zapopan: a 10-inch-high, corn-paste statue venerated as a source of many miracles. Every October 12 more than a million people crowd the streets around the basilica, where the Virgin is returned after a five-month tour of Jalisco's parish churches. It's an all-night fiesta capped by an early-morning procession.

Better known by its initials, MAZ, the large and modern Art Museum of Zapopan is Guadalajara's top contemporary art gallery. The museum regularly holds expositions of distinguished Latin American painters, photographers, and sculptors, as well as occasional international shows.

The Huichol Indians of northern Jalisco and the neighboring states of Zacatecas and Nayarit are famed for their fierce independence and exquisite beadwork and yarn "paintings." This small museum has rather hokey mannequins wearing the intricately embroidered clothing of both men and women. Bilingual placards explain the Huichol religion and world view. The gift shop sells a small inventory of beaded items, prayer arrows, and god's eyes.