Mascota
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◈ Among the green mountains, there’s a town whose buildings reveal the grandeur of its mid-19th century origins when it was a mining town in Jalisco and its present as an elegant home for a quiet life.
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◆ Biking and hiking in the towns of Mascota.
◆ Booking a stay at a hotel that used to be an old mansion or hacienda.
◆ Eating cheeses like panela and trying the dairy spread, jocoque.
Community residents aren’t shy about living out their everyday lives milking cows and making fruit milk caramels (from locally grown fruits such as apple, peach, tejocote, and perón) or Sunday serenades in the Plaza Principal starting at 8:30 pm.
❖ Plaza Principal
The heart of Mascota lies in this square and its beautiful gazebo where on holidays musicians perform serenades.
There’s a beautiful neo-Mudejar gazebo in the center framed by eighteenth-century buildings: the Palacio Municipal, Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, and the Arcos Municipales, each with a history and style of its own.
❖ Museo del Molino
See a perfectly preserved 19th-century flour mill. Visit the community of Navidad and try the famous ice cream.
The perfectly preserved machinery and items on display are from the 19th and 20th centuries. You can imagine the streams of water diverted here by the canal that would fall with enough pressure to make the wheel turn, putting the entire mill into operation. The museum is located in the community of Navidad, to the northeast of Mascota. It’s a great place to walk around and enjoy their famous ice creams.
❖ Museo El Pedregal
This is one of the most original museum’s in all of Jalisco. Inside, you’ll see a collection of everyday objects covered completely in stones: televisions, guitars, bathroom furniture, and even rock-covered pillows.
Also check out the Museo de Arqueología, where you’ll see items found at the El pantano site, which was probably a lake when the indigenous people set up there around the year 800 B.C. Don’t miss the Museo Maestro Raúl Rodríguez Peña, where you can learn about Mascota’s history and major figures, or the Museo de la Raicilla, where you can learn about the raicilla liquor.
❖ Check out Templo Inconcluso de la Preciosa Sangre
The revolutionary and Cristeros wars prevented completion of construction of this 19th-century church. The plant- and flower-filled gardens serve as venue for plays and concerts. It’s a great structure to look at as you ponder what it might have looked like finished.
❖ Shop for goods and handicrafts
Take home huarache sandals and crafts handmade by the Huichol people. Your tastebuds will thank you for picking up cheeses, stuffed guavas, candied mango, walnut wine, and raicilla.
❖ Check out La Yerbabuena
This picturesque town has a lake fed by mountain streams. It’s a place where quiet reigns.
Located 2.5 miles from Mascota, there’s the quiet lake of La Yerbabuena where ducks and geese waddle on the shores. It’s a great place to walk around and take in the sights. There’s a tonal light here where people meditate, as its cosmic energy has healing properties.
