The golden-hued Palacio de Gobierno, which houses the Jalisco state government offices, was finished in 1774 and is well worth visiting to see two impressive murals by local artist José Clemente Orozco (1883–1949). The real head-turner is the 400-sq-metre mural of Miguel Hidalgo painted in 1937 that dominates the main interior staircase. Hidalgo brandishes a torch in one fist while the masses at his feet struggle against the twin foes of communism and fascism.
Another Orozco mural in the Ex Congreso (former Congress Hall) upstairs to the right depicts Hidalgo, Benito Juárez and other historical luminaries. On the ground floor there’s an excellent multimedia museum about the history of Jalisco and its capital, though labeling is largely in Spanish.
