This 17th-century Franciscan church complex is in Zapopan, eight kilometres northwest of Guadalajara Cathedral.
The basilica has theatrical colonial Baroque architecture, fronted by a gateway that has a pair of powerful Ionic columns. Passing through to the courtyard you’ll be greeted by a sumptuous facade of scrolls and delicately sculpted reliefs, under two domed bell towers.
The interior is similarly exuberant, with fluted columns, polychrome statues, paintings and lots of gold leaf.
On 12 October the basilica witnesses Mexico’s third-largest pilgrimage. More than a million worshippers join a procession with the Virgin of Zapopan from Guadalajara Cathedral to the basilica. This image of Mary was carved in Spain in the Middle Ages and brought to Mexico in the 1500s.