If you’re coming to Guadalajara for the first time, two of the main attractions you will want to visit are the Teatro Degollado and the Palacio de Gobierno, the Government Palace. Here’s a quick tour of what you can expect from these two places. For all our Guadalajara guides and resources check this page.
Teatro Degollado
The Teatro Degollado was built starting in 1956 and inaugurated ten years later in 1866. It was built in a neoclassical style and considered on of the best preserved buildings in Latin America (source). The portico features a relief of Apollo and the Muses.
Inside, the main theater has 867 seats, and a mural meant to represent Danté’s Divine Comedy. The theater regularly has music, opera, theater and dance performances, and is the home of the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra.
Palacio de Gobierno del Estado de Jalisco (Jalisco Government Palace)
The Jalisco Government Palace is definitely one of the must see buildings in Guadalajara’s historic center. There are guards at the entrance but it is free and open to the public. The main floor has beautiful picture worthy spots under the arches. The second floor houses a “museum”, a small exhibition about Jalisco history and government, and technically, you can also go up on the roof to grab some instagram worthy shots of the Cathedral.
One of the main attractions inside the government palace, are the murals by Jose Clemente Orozco. You will also find his murals inside the well know Hospicio Cabanas that is just a few blocks away!
Here are a few images of the murals by Orozco:
inside:
Strolling Around the Guadalajara Centro Historico
Our second full day as tour guides, we spent in the Centro Historico. We actually made it into the Teatro Degollado for the very first time.
And of course we visited the Governor’s Palace, the Cathedral, and did a little bit of strolling.
We had another fabulous lunch at La Chata– just can’t really go wrong with them, and a paleta (popsicle) for dessert, as the afternoon sun was slowly melting us away.
We browsed some of the pedestrian streets, and were astounded at how much variety of “stuff” you can really find downtown. It really never ceases to amaze us. And we made a short stop at the jewelry market on our way back to the car.
More pictures of tourists in plazas:
and impromptu shopping:
and popsicles (paletas):
The rest of our visit with M’s parents, we spent around our neighborhood, checking out the local shops, walking down our construction laden street, and seeing where M spends lots of his time- school.