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The Former Hospicio de Cabañas

One of our first visits in Guadalajara was to the state museum in the building known originally in Spanish as the Hospicio de Caba&ntil. ;as. Built as an orphanage and refuge for the disabled, and used for most of its days for that purpose, it was a lovely complex of buildings built around a set of many and varied courtyards (LPM says 23). In its heyday it housed as many as 3,000 orphaned children and must have been a beacon of hope for many. Today it would be seen as too big and too impersonal. With 3,000 young children it must also have been very noisy, but wandering its arcades and admiring its fountains and especially its dome today, it is hard to imagine it as anything but a peaceful and serene retreat.

Orozco Paintings, Instituto Cultural de Cabañas

Today, the building serves as a cultural museum that is most famous for the murals that decorate walls and dome of the most imposing of the complex's buildings, its chapel. It seems that Guadalajarans are very proud of these murals, painted by their favorite son, Orozco, a muralist of the era of Diego Rivera. To us they were a travesty. The chapel, which at one time must have been a beautiful place of worship was now bare, except for the murals, which were dark, forbidding, and just plain ugly. The socialist government of Mexico, so intent on destroying the power of its rival the church also destroyed many things of beauty in Guadalajara, including this chapel and a monastery, of which only one building remains that is now used as a library.

Temple of Atonement

Statue of Pope John XXIII and the first Mexican Cardinal, S.E.R. Cardenal Don Juan Sandoval Iñiguez

The Temple of Atonement, a late 19th century neo-gothic church, appealed to both of us. It had a rather unusual central tower in place of a dome. The tower was pinnacle-shaped and had stained glass windows let in to its entire height and visible from within the church. The inside of the church was pretty spartan, with little apart from stained glass windows and statues in the way of adornment, although it did also have a very nice altar back. The front facade, however, was quite ornate with panels of gilded mosaic decorating its gables. Just outside of the church was a very nice bronze statue of Pope John 23rd sitting on a papal throne annointing the then Archbishop of Guadalajara Mexico’s first cardinal. Two blocks further we saw another nice church, the Templo de los Santos Angeles where a church service was going on, but still we peeked in and saw a very pretty small church, built just about a hundred years ago.

Palacio del Gobierno

Museo Regional de Guadalajara

Guadalajara also has its share of beautiful Spanish colonial buildings, in particular of course the Palacio del Gobierno (City Hall). Another lovely building houses the State Museum which has a very wide and very nice art collection as well as several rooms covering the history of Jalisco. We had trouble seeing it all in four hours and would happily go back.

Rotonda de los Hombres Ilustres

On one of the squares that abuts the Cathedral is this very pleasant square that holds a monument to Guadalajara's most famous sons. Their bodies are buried under the Rotunda and around the edge of the square are statues depicting each of them. We confess our ignorance of most of them, although one name that we did recognize was Jose Clemente Orozco.

We did appreciate the squares on each side of the cathedral. However, on the whole it is not pleasant to sit in them or be anywhere in earshot of the main streets of Guadalajara, except for the pedestrian thoroughfare, because of the noise pollution.

Originating mostly in the city's ageing public bus fleet, the noise is constant, ear-splitting and makes conversation almost impossible. And yet a visit to the city is still to be recommended. Just bring ear-plugs with you and save conversation for indoor locations.