Built in the late 18th century for a mine owner, the building's unusual name ('Bad Night Palace') is accounted for by a local legend that its former owner, fearing imminent ruin, gave the last bits of his fortune away to a woman on the street and waited for the bailiffs to arrive the next day. Instead, however, it was miners who called the following morning to announce the discovery of a massive seam of gold. It now houses state-government offices.
Palacio de la Mala Noche
Zacatecas
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.43 MILES
The excellent Museo Rafael Coronel is not to be missed. Imaginatively housed in the ruins of the lovely 16th-century Ex-Convento de San Francisco, it…
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0.06 MILES
The Museo Pedro Coronel is housed in a 17th-century former Jesuit college and is one of provincial Mexico's best art museums. Pedro Coronel (1923−85) was…
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27.2 MILES
The remote and scenic ruins of La Quemada stand on a hill 45km south of Zacatecas. The exact history and purpose of the site are extremely vague and many…
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The most appealing of the many explanations for the name of the hill that dominates Zacatecas is that bufa is an old Basque word for wineskin, which is…
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0.22 MILES
Visiting one of Mexico's richest mines (1586−1960s) provides an insight into a source of wealth and the terrible price paid for it. Digging for hoards of…
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0.04 MILES
Built between 1729 and 1752, the pink-stone cathedral is an ultimate expression of Mexican baroque. The stupendous main facade is a wall of detailed…
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4.03 MILES
This former convent now houses the Museo Virreinal de Guadalupe, with the building's original religious paintings by Miguel Cabrera, Juan Correa, Antonio…
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0.53 MILES
This museum memorializes the 1914 battle fought on the slopes of the Cerro de la Bufa in which the revolutionary División del Norte, led by Pancho Villa…
Nearby Zacatecas attractions
0.03 MILES
The city's main plaza is north of the cathedral and although normally quiet in the day it buzzes at night with families promenading, children playing and…
0.04 MILES
Built between 1729 and 1752, the pink-stone cathedral is an ultimate expression of Mexican baroque. The stupendous main facade is a wall of detailed…
0.05 MILES
Palacio de Gobierno on the plaza's east side was built in the 18th century for a colonial family. In the turret of its main staircase is a mural of the…
0.05 MILES
With a bubbly stone facade, the tarnished pink Templo de Santo Domingo, in a plazuela of the same name, is in a baroque style, with fine gilded altars and…
0.06 MILES
The Museo Pedro Coronel is housed in a 17th-century former Jesuit college and is one of provincial Mexico's best art museums. Pedro Coronel (1923−85) was…
0.07 MILES
This impressive 1880s iron-columned building used to hold Zacatecas' main market. In the 1980s the upper level was renovated into an upscale shopping…
0.12 MILES
Zacatecas' former mint (Mexico's second-biggest in the 19th century) now houses the wonderful Museo Zacatecano. Spread over a number of rooms, this…
0.14 MILES
This small five-roomed museum is a touching tribute to the musician, Manuel M Ponce, a well-traveled, intellectual Mexican, whose best-known score…