Guadalajara & the Pacific Centre

The region's most powerful pre-Hispanic state was the Purépecha, or Tarascan, kingdom, ruled from Tzintzuntzan on Lake Pátzcuaro, which fought off the Aztecs in the 15th century. To the west, the people of the Teuchitlán tradition built the circular stepped pyramids of Guachimontones near Guadalajara, and the shaft-tomb cultures of Colima, Jalisco and Nayarit left clay figures, including the famous plump dogs of Colima.

The Spanish arrived in the 1520s. The Purépecha ruler submitted, but Nuño de Guzmán's brutal campaign that began in 1529 devastated the west, which became the kingdom of Nueva Galicia, with Guadalajara, finally settled on its present site in 1542, as its capital. In Michoacán, Bishop Vasco de Quiroga founded hospital towns and encouraged each village to specialise in a craft, a legacy still visible around Pátzcuaro. Valladolid, now Morelia, founded in 1541, grew into a centre of learning.

Independence leaders came from here: José María Morelos was born in Valladolid, which was renamed Morelia in his honour, and Hidalgo decreed the abolition of slavery in Guadalajara in 1810. The Cristero War of 1926 to 1929 was fought hardest in Jalisco and Michoacán. In the 20th century Guadalajara grew into a city of millions, Paricutín volcano rose from a Michoacán cornfield in 1943, Puerto Vallarta became famous after John Huston filmed The Night of the Iguana nearby in 1963, and Manzanillo became one of the country's main ports.

Much of what the world sees as Mexican comes from Jalisco: mariachi, the wide-brimmed charro hat, charrería horsemanship, and tequila. Mariachi and charrería are both on UNESCO's intangible heritage list, and Guadalajara's Plaza de los Mariachis and its festival keep the music alive. Tapatíos, as people from Guadalajara are called, are proud of their city, its club Chivas, which fields only Mexican players, and its conservative Catholic traditions.

Michoacán is the land of the Purépecha, who still speak their language in the highlands and around Lake Pátzcuaro. Their pirekua songs are UNESCO-listed, and the Day of the Dead vigils in lakeside cemeteries and on the island of Janitzio draw visitors from across the country. The villages Vasco de Quiroga organised still specialise: copper in Santa Clara del Cobre, guitars in Paracho, lacquerware in Uruapan and Pátzcuaro. The dance of the old men, danza de los viejitos, is a local symbol.

The Wixárika, or Huichol, of the Sierra Madre in northern Jalisco and Nayarit make colourful yarn paintings and beadwork, and the Cora live alongside them. Tlaquepaque and Tonalá near Guadalajara are known for pottery and glass.

About 15 million people live in the four states. Greater Guadalajara has over five million and is Mexico's third-largest urban area, a centre for technology, electronics, food processing and trade. Morelia has around 750,000, and Tepic, Colima, Uruapan, Zamora, Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo are smaller regional cities.

Farming is big business. Michoacán grows over 90% of the avocados of Mexico, the world's largest producer and exporter, around Uruapan, as well as limes and berries, and Jalisco grows agave and raises beef and dairy cattle. Tourism dominates Puerto Vallarta and the Nayarit coast, and Manzanillo's container port handles a large share of Mexico's Pacific trade. Migration to the United States is long established, and remittances support many rural families.

Guadalajara's weekends revolve around family meals, football and markets such as the Mercado San Juan de Dios. Current pressures include organised crime, extortion of farmers, disappearances in Jalisco, and water shortages in Guadalajara as Lake Chapala, its main source, is overused.

Jalisco's cooking is hearty. Birria, goat or beef slow-cooked in a spicy chilli broth, is eaten for breakfast after celebrations, and Guadalajara's torta ahogada, a crusty roll filled with pork and drowned in tomato and chilli sauce, is the city's signature. Carne en su jugo, beef cooked in its juices with beans and bacon, is another local dish, and jericalla, a baked custard, is Guadalajara's dessert. Tejuino, a cold fermented corn drink with lime and salt, is sold on the streets.

Michoacán is famous for carnitas, pork slowly cooked in its own fat, especially from Quiroga, and for uchepos, fresh-corn tamales, and corundas, triangular tamales served with cream and salsa. Morelia sells ate, fruit paste in blocks. Ice-cream shops across Mexico carry the name La Michoacana, from the state's tradition of paletas, ice lollies.

On the coast, Nayarit's pescado zarandeado, whole fish grilled over wood, is the classic, and Colima sells tuba, a drink made from palm sap. Tequila comes from the agave fields around Tequila and the Jalisco highlands, and raicilla is a lesser-known agave spirit from the Jalisco coast.

Guadalajara's centre has its cathedral, the Hospicio Cabañas with Orozco's murals, and the Teatro Degollado; Tlaquepaque and Tonalá lie on its edge. Tequila, an hour west, has its distilleries and agave fields, and the Guachimontones pyramids are close by. Lake Chapala, the country's largest lake, and the lakeside town of Ajijic lie to the south, and Mazamitla's pine forests beyond.

On the coast, Puerto Vallarta has its malecón, old town and the beaches of the Bay of Banderas. The Riviera Nayarit runs north through Nuevo Vallarta and Bucerías to Punta Mita and the surf town of Sayulita, with the Marietas Islands offshore and San Blas and the island village of Mexcaltitán further north. Manzanillo in Colima has beaches and sport fishing, and the Volcán de Colima, one of Mexico's most active volcanoes, rises inland near the old town of Comala.

In Michoacán, Morelia's centre, aqueduct and cathedral are UNESCO World Heritage, and the monarch butterfly reserves of El Rosario and Sierra Chincua lie to the east. Pátzcuaro has its plazas and the island of Janitzio, with the Purépecha ruins of Tzintzuntzan nearby. Near Uruapan, the church of San Juan Parangaricutiro still rises from the lava of Paricutín.