Templo y Exconvento de San Diego

The Templo y Exconvento de San Diego faces El Parián market on Rivero y Gutiérrez in the Zona Centro of Aguascalientes City and is among the oldest religious complexes in the state. Barefoot Carmelites began building here in 1640, the Franciscans took the site over in 1661, and the temple was completed in 1682, giving the church a long and interrupted construction history visible in the mix of masonry across the facade. Visitors find a carved stone portal, a bell tower and a single nave with a barrel vault, side altars and colonial religious paintings, restrained in decoration compared with the cathedral a few blocks north. The adjoining former convent has had a second life that is arguably more interesting than its first: it became the state's first school of agriculture, and in 1973 served as one of the founding sites of the Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, so the cloister ranges now carry an academic rather than monastic character. A visit takes 20 to 30 minutes for the church, a little longer for anyone who walks the former convent courtyards when they are open. The building's position directly opposite El Parián makes it a natural pairing, and the two together fill about an hour. The facade photographs best in the afternoon, when light falls across the western elevation and the bell tower; from the arcade of El Parián the church frames well against the street. The church is free and generally open from around 8:00AM to 2:00PM and again from 5:00PM to 8:00PM, closing over the midday break. It is quietest on weekday mornings and busiest around Sunday Mass, when the pews fill and walking the nave is inappropriate for sightseeing. No tickets or guided tours are offered, so the visit costs nothing and fits easily into a wider walking circuit of the Zona Centro alongside the cathedral and Plaza de la Patria.