A multicultural, multiethnic and multilingual state, Nayarit preserves a large number of pre-Hispanic and colonial traditions and monuments.
Among which stands out its indigenous archaeological heritage, its colonial architecture and customs, the old and modern festivals and traditions and, of course, the rich and varied popular art of ethnic groups and artisans from the mountains, the highlands and the coast. In museums, Nayarit offers us magnificent sites worth visiting. In a brief tour of the historic center of Tepic you will find the Regional Museum, located in one of the main historical monuments of the late 18th century. This enclosure exhibits important collections from the investigations carried out in various parts of the entity by the archaeologist José Corona Núñez and the historian Salvador Gutiérrez Contreras. Since its opening, this museum is the main cultural center of the state capital.
The Amado Nervo House Museum displays personal documents of this illustrious Nayarit, as well as his career as a writer and diplomat from Mexico. The house where Juan Escutia, the defending cadet of Chapultepec Castle, was born, houses personal belongings, furniture, flags and documents that describe the participation of the boy hero in Mexico's war against the United States in 1847.
Nearby is “La Casa de los Cuatro Pueblos”, a museum inaugurated in 1992 that exhibits a wide variety of artistic and craft expressions made by the wonderful hands of Huichols, Coras and Tepehuanos, as well as the popular art of pottery, basketwork. , saddlery, blacksmithing, typical furniture, pyrotechnics, stone sculpture and shell work.
It is also worth visiting the Museum of Visual Arts "Aramara", where paintings, sculptures and engravings by Nayarit artists are exhibited; In addition, a large number of events related to the visual art of Nayarit and other states take place in this venue.
Ten minutes from the center of the city of Tepic stands the old Textile Factory that houses the Bellavista Historical Museum, which shows a very important collection of materials and tools from the textile industry rescued in this building, founded in 1841; It also houses an important collection of photographs and documents of the struggle waged by the men and women of this historic working-class town, a struggle that culminated in the first strike in March 1905, a precursor to the revolutionary movement of 1910.
The towns of Jala, Ixtlán del Río, Xalisco, Ahuacatlán, Compostela, Las Varas, Ruiz, San Pedro Lagunillas and Huajimic also have community museums created since 1992 by the Nayarites with the purpose of conserving and disseminating cultural and historical heritage. of their communities. In addition, in the state of Nayarit there are other relevant venues that are fundamental elements to publicize its cultural, historical and artistic development. Your visit will generate unsuspected visions of Nayarit history.
Source: Unknown Mexico Guide No. 65 Nayarit / December 2000
