Yuriria

In the south of the state lies the town of Yuriria. Life here revolves around a convent that looks more like a castle, left behind by the Augustinians. They also built the enormous artificial lagoon that has kept disease at bay and supplied the town with water for centuries. People fish and take boat rides on its waters, or sometimes wait for the sunset at another body of water, the Lago Cráter, which is said to turn red when the earth trembles.

The Temple and Convent of San Pablo

• The Augustinians inaugurated it in 1559; it looks like a fortress because of the constant Indigenous uprisings.
• The façade of the temple has fine plateresque features, its interior was adorned with wooden altarpieces that burned down.
• Under the vaults with gothic ribs there is, in the main altar, the image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
• The former convent is now a museum where photographs, pieces of sacred art and colonial paintings are exhibited.

Be sure to climb up to the convent's terrace to see a pair of centuries-old ahuehuete trees and the famous Laguna de Yuriria.

1. In the afternoon, behind the Ex Convento de San Pablo, look for the cart that sells baked fruit bread.
2. Try the chimichangas or enchiladas mineras at El Monasterio restaurant.
3. Taste the atoles that the town boasts: chickpea, wheat, tamarind and guava.