However, many people wouldn’t normally describe a building as particularly “special” (unless you actually built it!); there is a very special building in the cosmopolitan city of Guadalajara, Mexico, that certainly deserves the title.

Upon entering the Cabañas Cultural Institute you will find this to be true because of the rich history of the building and also because the Institute houses some of the most fascinating Mexican murals by the late and brilliant muralist José Clemente Orozco.

The building is named after its founder and patron, Bishop Juan Ruiz de Cabañas.

Something very endearing about this wonderful treasure in Guadalajara is that it was originally built to provide a home for orphans, the poor, the disabled, and the elderly.

No wonder it became a World Heritage Site in 1997 and can be described by many as “simply stunning”.

The Cabañas Cultural Institute is affectionately known to many of Guadalajara’s seniors by its former name of Hospicio Cabañas (Cabañas Orphanage). If you ask many of them, one or two will fondly remember passing by and seeing small children playing happily.

Construction of this special building began in the early 1800s under the supervision of architect Manuel Tulsa and its doors were opened to the first orphans in 1810 while it was still under construction. Unfortunately, construction had to stop temporarily due to the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821) and it was not finished until around 1845.

In 1937, José Clemente Orozco (a Jalisco native) was invited by the government to paint the Institute’s chapel, which he later completed in 1939.

The Cabañas Cultural Institute is now used as a center for cultural promotion and offers classes and tours of Orozco’s impressive large-scale murals, including his world-famous Hombre de Fuego mural.