Town 21 km south of Tapalpa
The town where Juan Rulfo spent his childhood, with a 19th-century parish of the Señor de la Misericordia and old portales.
San Gabriel is a town in the south of Jalisco, below the Sierra de Tapalpa, best known as the place where the writer Juan Rulfo spent his childhood. The landscapes and people of this dry country later echoed through his stories in El llano en llamas and his novel Pedro Páramo, and readers come here looking for that world.
The town's history goes back to 1576, when people from the town of Amula, destroyed by an eruption of the Volcán de Fuego, settled here with a statue of Christ they were carrying, the Señor de la Misericordia. His parish church was built between 1833 and 1836, and the town also has the sanctuary of the Virgin of Guadalupe, finished in 1879, the chapel of the Sangre de Cristo and wide portales around the center.
Above town, a monument to Cristo Rey crowns the Cerro Viejo. The municipality also has old haciendas and pre-Hispanic petroglyphs, and the town was known for some decades as Venustiano Carranza before getting its original name back in 1993.
What to see and do
Visit the parish of the Señor de la Misericordia de Amula.
See the sanctuary of Guadalupe and the chapel of the Sangre de Cristo.
Walk the portales around the center.
Look up to the Cristo Rey monument on the Cerro Viejo.
Read some Rulfo before you go and look for the landscapes of his stories.
Getting there
From Tapalpa, take the road toward San Gabriel, which passes the Presa del Nogal and descends from the sierra; the trip takes roughly 45 minutes to an hour on a winding road. Regional buses also connect San Gabriel with Ciudad Guzmán and Guadalajara.
21 km south of Tapalpa
Directions from Tapalpa on Google Maps
Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.
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Weather mild
San Gabriel shares the climate of Tapalpa, 21 km away. The best months to visit are Jan, Mar, Apr, Nov.
Make Tapalpa your base
San Gabriel is an easy trip from Tapalpa, a Pueblo Mágico with places to stay, food, and more to see.
Also close to
- Sayula · 23 km away
More around Tapalpa
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Atacco
· Town · 2 km away
An old village just outside Tapalpa; in colonial times the Franciscans ran a hospital for indigenous people here. -
Presa del Nogal
· Lake · 4 km away
A reservoir in the pine hills just south-west of Tapalpa that feeds the Salto del Nogal; good for a walk or a picnic. -
Las Piedrotas
· Nature reserve · 5 km away
Giant boulders scattered across open meadows north of town, in the area known as the Valle de los Enigmas. -
Salto del Nogal
· Waterfall · 8 km away
The region's highest waterfall, about 105 meters, reached by a dirt road and a forest hike south of Tapalpa. -
Ferrería de Tula
· Landmark · 14 km away
A hamlet north of Tapalpa with the overgrown ruins of an old iron foundry that worked until the early 20th century. -
Amacueca
· Town · 19 km away
A small town below the sierra on the road up to Tapalpa, with an 18th-century Franciscan church and convent ruins. -
Chiquilistlán
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A quiet mountain town in the Sierra de Tapalpa known for otate and ixtle crafts, with hot springs and waterfalls nearby. -
Atemajac de Brizuela
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Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.