A standard baroque structure on the outside dating from 1708 to 1716, this hushed sanctuary to Mexico's patron is a different story within. Get ready for a glistening profusion of pink, red and gold, gold, gold! The interior decorations date from 1915.

　　Springing out of all this elaboration is a series of large paintings depicting the conversion of the indigenous peoples to Christianity. They show scenes such as sacrificial victims about to be executed before being saved by the honest, God-fearing folk of Spain.

　　Beside the church, the much less splashy Ex Convento de San Diego was built in 1761 as a monastery and now houses the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo.