Mazatlán may be best known for its wide, sandy beaches and sporting activities, but visitors who neglect to sample the city's cultural events and attractions are missing out on a multidimensional destination.
Architectural Highlights
Two blocks south of the central plaza stands the lovely Teatro Angela Peralta, Carnaval 1024, Centro (tel. 669/982-4444), a national historic monument. Built between 1869 and 1874, it most recently underwent renovation in 1998. The 841-seat Italian-style theater has three levels of balconies, two facades, and, in true tropical style, a lobby with no roof. The theater was named for one of the world's great divas, who, along with the director and 30 members of the opera, died in Mazatlán of cholera in an 1863 epidemic. Some city tours stop here; if you're visiting on your own, the theater is open daily from 9am to 6pm. The fee for touring the building is $1 (55p). It regularly schedules folkloric ballets, along with periodic performances of classical ballet, contemporary dance, symphony concerts, opera, and jazz. For information, call or check at the theater box office. This theater is the home of Delfos, one of the most important contemporary dance companies in Mexico.
The 20-block historic area near the theater, including the small square Plazuela Machado (bordered by Frías, Constitución, Carnaval, and Sixto Osuna), abounds with beautiful old buildings and colorful town houses trimmed with wrought iron and carved stone. The Plaza hosts local artists and vendors on Saturday afternoons, as well as offers arts and crafts activities and storytelling for children. Two new art galleries and art shops have opened near the plaza on Sixto Osuna: the Elena Chauvet Gallery and Casa Ethnica. Check out the town houses on Libertad between Domínguez and Carnaval and the two lavish mansions on Ocampo at Domínguez and at Carnaval. For a rest stop, try the Café Pacífico (decorated with historic pictures of Mazatlán) on the Plazuela Machado.
The Plaza Principal, also called Plaza Revolución, is the heart of the city, filled with vendors, shoeshine stands, and people of all ages out for a stroll. At its center is a Victorian-style, wrought-iron bandstand with a diner-type restaurant underneath. Be sure to take in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, built in the 1800s, with its unusual yellow-tiled twin steeples and partially tiled facade. It's on the corner of Calle 21 de Marzo and Nelson.
