Xalapa - Notable City Landmarks

Notable City Landmarks

• The Xalapa Cathedral is a mix of Baroque and Neogothic design built in 1773. It has a clock tower, the clock coming from England.
• Callejón Diamante (lit. Diamond Alley) is one of the more crowded streets at night because of its Bohemian atmosphere with cafes and an artists' colony. Callejón Jesús te Ampare is a cobblestone street next to the Church of San José .
• Patio Muñoz is a neighborhood built in the 19th century, with most of the original buildings intact. Here are held workshops in Veracruz-style painting, dance and music.

• Parque Juárez is a park in central Xalapa with a terrace-like appearance. The southern side of the park looks over the valley below, offering scenic views of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains in the distance. Parque Juárez was the location of the Monastery of San Francisco. It is located among the four oldest neighborhoods of the city. Its central garden features enormous monkey puzzle trees, art gallerys, an agora, workshops, an auditorium and a café.
• The Jardín de Esculturas (Sculpture Garden) is a museum dedicated to sculpture, exhibiting works by nationally and internationally-recognized artists.
• The Museo Interactivo de Xalapa (Interactive Museum of Xalapa) features a planetarium with an IMAX screen, showing educational documentaries.
• In the Paseo de los Lagos, there used to be an ancient dam. Today it has footpaths surrounded by leafy trees, circling three lakes and a fresh-water spring.
• The Parque de los Tecajetes is in a natural depression or ravine of the same name in the center of the city. Underneath is a fresh-water spring that feeds the aqueducts, artificial pools and canals of the park.
• The Museo de Antropología de Xalapa houses the largest collection of artifacts from Mexican Gulf Coast cultures such as the Olmec, the Huastec and the Totonac with more than 25,000 pieces. The most notable pieces in the museum are the giant Olmec heads and the smaller Totonac ones. Some of the pieces in the museum date back to the Early Pre-Classic Period from 1300 BC −900 BC.
• Nearby is the Hacienda del Lencero Its first owner was Juan Lencero, a soldier of Hernán Cortés. In 1842 it was purchased by Antonio López de Santa Anna for 45,000 pesos. Today, it is a museum which displays furniture and personal belongings dating from the 19th century. It also has a chapel, spacious gardens and a lake surrounding the property which include a sculpture by Gabriela Mistral who spent time there while in exile.
• The Jardín Botánico Clavijero (Clavijero Botanical Garden) has an important collection of regional plants with sections dedicated to Mexican ornamental flowers, reconstructed mountain environments in Xalapa, ferns and the most extensive variety of pines in Mexico.