Hospicio Cabañas

Yesterday Genaro took me to the Coldplay concert here in Guadalajara. It was pretty good, since they played a lot of their older stuff (Parachutes, A Rush of Blood to the Head) and went easy on the newer songs. It was held in a soccer stadium at one of the local universities.

Today I went to Hospicio Cabañas. It was an orphanage built in the early 1800s in downtown Guadalajara that is now a World Heritage Site or something along those lines. It is used for art exhibitions, though today there were none. Though there wasn't much to see, I got some good photos of the building itself. I had to pay to get in, and I didn't want to pay full price, so I got the student discount by showing the woman an unused Metrolink ticket I had in my wallet (I don't have my old student ID on me). She accepted it, though I'm not entirely sure she believed me. Afterwards I ate lunch in the Paseo Hospicio, the plaza in front of the building, and had some great chicken fajitas for $3.

This is Plaza de los Mariachis, near the Hospicio.


A church in the Plaza de los Mariachis.


Apparently last year the Hospicio is where Barack Obama, the president of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada met. It says, "In this place, the third meeting of the leaders of North America is celebrated with the presence of the following dignitaries:"


Inside view of one of the many courtyards in the Hospicio.


Interior view of the Hospicio.

One of the murals inside the main part of the Hospicio. Apparently after it was no longer a orphanage, the governor of Jalisco state commissioned artist Jose Clemente Orozco to paint these in the late 1930s.

This explains the who/what/when/where/why of the murals.

More murals.

Another interior view of the Hospicio.

Closeup of the bells.