Situated to the north of the Bajío’s fertile heartland, the sprawling industrial city of San Luis Potosi boasts a rich colonial center crammed with solid stone buildings reminiscent of a classical Spanish town, and it’s an easy (flat), likeable place to explore. The city was founded as a Franciscan mission in 1592, but it wasn’t long before the Spanish discovered significant deposits of gold and silver in the country round about and began to develop the area in earnest. They added the name Potosí (after the fabulously productive mines in Bolivia) in the expectation of rivalling the original, and though this did become a wealthy town, that hope was never fully realized. Unlike its erstwhile rivals, however, San Luis is still prosperous most of the silver is gone but working mines churn out zinc and lead with a considerable modern industrial base. As a result, San Luis, while preserving a little-changed historic heart, is also a large and lively modern city.

The ravishing historic center of San Luis Potosí is set on a tidy grid of largely pedestrianized streets around a series of little colonial plazas. Chief among these is the Jardín Hidalgo, the old Plaza de Armas, surrounded by state and city government offices and overlooked by the cathedral. From the northeast corner of the plaza, pedestrianized Hidalgo and the streets around it comprise the city’s main shopping area; the department stores near the plaza give way to smaller, simpler shops as you approach the Mercado Hidalgo, a good place for souvenirs and fresh produce. Further north, the street stalls and stores become increasingly basic until you reach the Mercado República, another, much larger produce and clothing market, beyond the main road that delineates the edge of the center.

The Catedral Metropolitana (daily 7.30am–2pm & 4.30–8.30pm) is an impressive piece of architecture and dominates the east side of the Jardín Hidalgo. It was built in the early eighteenth century, but successive generations have ensured that little remains of the original note the odd mismatching colours of the two towers and the ornate, swirling, carved pillars on the facade. Check out the nineteenthcentury interior, which is fittingly opulent for such a wealthy city. Facing the cathedral across the square is the long facade of the Palacio de Gobierno, with its balustraded roof. This, too, has been substantially refurbished since its initial completion in 1789, but at least alterations have preserved the harmony of its clean Neoclassical lines. At the time of writing a massive renovation was almost complete; by the end of 2010 you should be able to visit the Sala Juárez inside, a suite of rooms occupied by Benito Juárez when San Luis became his temporary capital in 1863. French troops supporting Emperor Maximilian soon drove him out, but Juárez returned in 1866, and in this building confirmed the death sentence passed on Maximilian. The Casa Museo de Othón, Othón 225 (Tues–Fri 10am–2pm & 4–6pm, Sat & Sun 10am–2pm), a pretty and well-tended museum, though a rather lifeless tribute to Manuel José Othón, San Luis’s most famous poet (who was born here in 1858), mainly comprising some of his furniture.

The Templo del Carmen (daily 7am–1.30pm & 4–9pm), on Plaza del Carmen, is the most beautiful and harmonious of all San Luis’s churches, dating from 1764. Exuberantly decorated with a multicoloured tiled dome and elaborate Baroque facade, it has an equally flashy interior: in particular, a fantastically intricate nineteenth-century retablo attributed to eccentric artist and polymath Francisco Tresguerras. Next door to the church is the moderately interesting Museo del Virreinato (Tues–Fri 10am–7pm, Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 11am–5pm), a huge collection of artwork and artefacts from the Spanish colonial era. A few steps south is the bulky, columned Teatro de la Paz (ticket office daily 10am–2pm & 4–8pm), built in 1889 under Porfirio Díaz and typical of the grandiose public buildings of that era, though its modern interior fails to live up to the extravagance of the exterior (open for performances only). Directly opposite the theatre, you’ll find the compulsive and fascinating Museo Nacional de la Máscara, Villerias 2 (Mon & Wed–Fri 10am–6pm, Sat 10am–5pm, Sun 10am–2pm), with exhibits on everything from pre-Hispanic masks to costumes that are still worn for fiestas and traditional dances. Highlights should include the so-called “giants of San Luis”, eight enormous models representing four royal couples (from Africa, Europe, Asia and America), which are flaunted in the streets during the festival of Corpus Christi in May, and an ancient funerary mask made from a skull, inlaid with a mosaic of turquoise and black stone. South of the museum, another magnificent original Baroque exterior, that of the Templo de San Agustín, faces out onto Plaza San Agustín the elegant Neoclassical exterior, reconstructed in the 1840s, is often decorated with flowers.

The Museo Federico Silva, Jardín de San Juan de Dios (Mon–Sat 10am–6pm, closed Tues, Sun 10am–2pm), which focuses on the works of Federico Silva, one of Mexico’s most exalted sculptors (born in Mexico City in 1923). The museum is housed in a Neoclassical school building completed in 1907, its open spaces a lovely synthesis of the classic and the contemporary, much like the works of Silva (now in his eighties) who creates modern interpretations of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic forms. His blockish volcanic stone and steel forms dominate the galleries: some are vaguely human and others geometric abstractions, but all are beautifully lit. Don’t miss Scriptum, a huge block of stone (adorned with four simple carved circles) entirely filling a kind of crypt, below the ground floor, as if it were secreted deep within some Aztec pyramid. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (Tues–Sun 10am–6pm), which should be open by 2010 in the handsome old post office (which dates from the 1860s), as a slick showcase for up-and-coming local and national artists. Plaza de los Fundadores is a much larger and more formal open space, commemorating the foundation of the city near this spot in 1592. The plaza is dominated by the enormous Neoclassical Edificio Central de la Universidad, the main state university building, and two small adjacent churches, the Capilla de Loreto and La Compañía, while the fine arcaded portals of the square continue around the corner into Avenida Venustiano Carranza. There’s more interest a block south along Aldama, where you can admire the ornate Baroque facade of the Caja Real, the old mint dating from 1763 one of the finest colonial mansions in San Luis.

Plaza de San Francisco, a lovely, shaded area redolent of the city’s colonial history. It’s named after the Franciscan convent whose church, the eighteenth-century Templo de San Francisco, towers over the plaza’s west side and features a magnificent crystal chandelier in the shape of a sailing ship, hanging over the nave. The convent itself now houses the Museo Regional Potosino (Tues–Sat 10am–7pm, Sun 10am–5pm), an absorbing collection of pre-Hispanic sculpture and other archeological finds, displays of local Indian culture and traditions and articles relating to the history of the state of San Luis Potosí. In addition to a fine cloister, there’s access, upstairs, to the lavish Baroque chapel, Capilla de Aranzazú said to be the only chapel in Latin America located on an upper floor with exceedingly rich and enthusiastically restored churrigueresque decoration. Inside and through the side chapels lies a miscellaneous collection of religious paintings and artefacts. At the southern end of the Plaza de San Francisco, two more tiny and elaborate churches, Sagrado Corazón (which dates from 1731) and the even older Templo del Tercera Orden (established in 1698) stand side by side, with the small, plain 1894 National Presbyterian Church, terribly incongruous amid all this Baroque grandeur, facing them across Galeana.

The most prestigious of a spate of new cultural projects opened in San Luis Potosí in 2009/2010, the Centro de las Artes Centenario (Mon–Fri 10am–2pm & 5–8pm, Sat & Sun 11am–5pm) is an exciting transformation of an unusual historic building, with every corner of the former state prison, built in the 1890s, renovated, modified or filled with art. Temporary exhibitions here showcase local and visiting artists, while the Museo del Sitio charts the history of the prison and delves into the themes of “culture and democracy”. There’s also a library and space for a variety of shows and events. The centre is at Calzada de Guadalupe 705, around 1km south of Jardín Colón (which is at the southern end of Zaragoza). If urban life is getting you down, catch the “Ruta 32” or “Parques del Sur” from the Alameda to the green expanse of the Parque Tangamanga I (open daily 5.30am–7pm, till 11pm on Mon), around 2km west of the Jardín Hidalgo, with the main entrance on Salvador Nava Martinez. Founded in the early 1980s, the park still lacks maturity, and there are great stretches that remain undeveloped, but it makes a pleasant weekend outing nonetheless. It’s a vast space of around 3.5 square kilometres and offers picnic spots, fitness circuits and a couple of small lakes. Joggers, soccer players and cyclists come here, and you can rent bikes. The park also has the added attraction of the innovative Museo Laberinto de las Ciencias y la Artes (Tues–Fri 9am–4pm, Sat & Sun 10am–7pm) on Cordero at the southern end, the city’s latest high-tech museum containing hands-on science displays, 3D cinema (shows every hour) and exhibitions primarily aimed at kids, though the building itself is certainly worth a look. There’s also the Museo de Arte Popular (Tues–Fri 10am–2pm & 4–6pm, Sat 10am–2pm), a showcase museum-shop of local crafts, at the bottom of Tatanacho opposite the main park entrance. San Luis has a vibrant nightlife, with numerous clubs staying open until the early hours at the weekend. The section of Carranza (affectionately known as La Avenida), starting half a kilometer west of Plaza Fundadores, has traditionally been the place to go. Otherwise, stick to the smaller but more central collection of bars along Universidad, north of the Templo de Francisco. For movies, check out the wonderfully restored Cineteca Alameda, facing the Alameda at Constitución and Universidad.