Mexico's second city — birthplace of tequila, mariachi, and the torta ahogada
Mexico's second-largest city and capital of Jalisco state, Guadalajara is where tequila was invented (the UNESCO-listed blue agave fields of the Tequila region, 60km west), where mariachi music was born, and where the torta ahogada — a birote roll drowned in a spiced chile tomato sauce — was invented by accident and is now a point of fierce local civic pride. The historic center has a 16th-century cathedral, José Clemente Orozco murals at the Hospicio Cabañas, the largest craft market in Mexico at Tlaquepaque, and a food scene (birria tacos, carne en su jugo, chilaquiles, tostadas de cueritos…
Founded by Spanish conquistador Nuño de Guzmán in 1531 (and moved to its current location in 1542 after two failed earlier settlements), Guadalajara became the second capital of New Spain and capital of the Nova Galicia province. The Mexican independence movement had its roots nearby — Miguel Hidalgo issued his Grito de Independencia from Dolores (now Dolores Hidalgo) in 1810 and briefly held Guadalajara before being captured and executed. José Clemente Orozco, the greatest of the Mexican muralists, was born near Guadalajara and painted his most important works here — the Hospicio Cabañas mur…