4 Best Sights in Around Mexico City, Mexico

This impressive, huge, former convent includes a trio of churches. The most unusual is the Moorish-style Capilla Real, with 49 domes. Construction began in the 1540s, and the building was originally open on one side to facilitate the conversion of huge masses of people. A handful of Franciscan monks still live in one part of the premises, so be respectful of their privacy. La Biblioteca Franciscana (open weekdays 9 to 5) is a fascinating on-premises library of over 24,000 volumes from the 16th through 19th centuries, with occasional exhibitions.

Gran Pirámide was the hub of Olmec, Toltec, and Aztec religious centers and is, by volume, the largest pyramid in the world. It consists of seven superimposed structures connected by tunnels and stairways. Ignacio Márquina, the architect in charge of the initial explorations in 1931, decided to excavate two tunnels partly to prove that el cerrito (the little hill), as many still call it, was an archaeological trove. When seeing the Zona Arqueológica, you'll walk through these tunnels to a vast 43-acre temple complex that was dedicated to the god Quetzalcóatl.

On top of the pyramid stands the Spanish chapel Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Our Lady of the Remedies). Almost brought down by a quake in 1999, it has been wonderfully restored. From the top of the pyramid you'll have a clear view of other nearby churches, color-coded by period: oxidized red was used in the 16th century, yellow in the 17th and 18th centuries, and pastel colors in the 19th century. You can obtain an English-language guide for about $15.

The exterior of this 16th-century church might be simple, but inside waits an explosion of color and swirling shapes. To facilitate the conversion of the native population, Franciscan monks incorporated elements recalling the local cult of the goddess Tonantzin in the ornamentation of the chapel. The result is a jewel of the style known as churrigueresque. The polychrome wood-and-stucco carvings—inset columns, altarpieces, and the main archway—were completed in the late 17th century. The carvings, set off by ornate gold-leaf figures of plant forms, angels, and saints, were made by local craftspeople. Flash photography is not allowed.

Manuel Toussaint, an expert in colonial art, likened this church to "a temple of porcelain, worthy of being kept beneath a crystal dome." Construction began in 1590, with the elaborate Spanish baroque decorations added between 1650 and 1750. Multicolored Talavera tiles cover the exceptionally ornate facade. The interior blazes with polychrome plasterwork and gilding; a sun radiates overhead. Unlike that of the nearby Santa María Tonantzintla, the ornamentation hews to the standard representations of the Incarnation, the Evangelists, and the Holy Trinity. Look for St. Francis, to whom the church is dedicated, between the altarpiece's spiraling columns.