Comala

White houses, red-tiled roofs and cobblestone streets define Comala. The town also has a historic center, a sculpture dedicated to Juan Rulfo, an art museum and an annual fair. These themes offer different perspectives: architecture and the townscape sit alongside literature and art, while Holy Week and Easter Week bring a festival featuring food and crafts. If you’re looking for a vacation rental in Comala, these interests can help you decide whether to discover the town chiefly for its architectural history, its cultural connections or the fair.

Historic Center and Townscape

Comala’s historic center was declared a zone of historic monuments by presidential decree in 1988. This designation gives the center a clear historical significance, while its visible character is shaped by white houses, red-tiled roofs and paved streets. If you’re interested in architecture and the character of a place, you’ll find two distinct points of connection here: the formal recognition of the historic center and the design that defines Comala as a town.

Notable buildings in the historic center include the Portales de Comala. They add a specific building to the architectural picture, one that is explicitly part of the historic center. This lets you focus your trip on local history and architecture without reducing Comala to individual attractions: the recurring features of its houses and streets are also part of the town’s character.

San Miguel del Espíritu Santo

The Church of San Miguel del Espíritu Santo is located in the center of the town of Comala, the administrative seat of the municipality of the same name. Its floor plan is in the shape of a Latin cross. The façade also has a clearly described design: it consists of two sections and is flanked by towers. These features give you specific architectural details to look for as you explore the town center.

The floor plan and façade design describe different aspects of the building: the Latin cross refers to the church’s layout, while the two sections and flanking towers describe its exterior. If you’re traveling with family or in a group, you can use these details as a starting point for conversation rather than planning your visit around a long list of buildings. The church is a cultural landmark in its own right in the center of the town.

Juan Rulfo, Literature and Art

A sculpture dedicated to Juan Rulfo stands in the Jardín Principal. Rulfo lived from 1917 to 1986; his novel “Pedro Páramo” is set in a place called Comala. The literary name and the real town are not one and the same: the novel is set in a place with that name. For literature-loving travelers, this connection can be explored by visiting the sculpture and learning about Rulfo’s work.

Visual art is also part of Comala’s cultural offerings. The Casa de la Cultura de Comala houses the Alberto Isaac Museum. Its permanent collection includes paintings, prints, sculptures, ceramics and cardboard works created by Alberto Isaac during his lifetime. The variety of media makes the museum a well-defined destination for anyone looking to add art to their trip. Together with the literary connection, this offers a different perspective on Comala from the architecture of the historic center.

Fair and Food

Every year, the Feria del Ponche, Pan y Café takes place in the municipal seat of Comala for two weeks during Holy Week and Easter Week. The tourism, food and handicrafts fair is considered a tradition and cultural heritage of the municipality of Comala. Its timing is especially important for planning: if you want to travel specifically for the fair, plan your trip for the stated period. As a recurring festival, it differs from the year-round connections to architecture, literature and the museum described above.

Another culinary destination is Don Comalón, a long-established family-run Botanero-style restaurant in Comala. Alongside the fair’s focus on food, this shows that dining is part of the local scene both at an annual festival and at a restaurant. If your trip focuses on art and architectural history, your priorities will differ from those of a stay planned specifically around the fair during Easter Week. This way, you can choose the focus that matters most to your travel group.

Discover More Places

For more trip-planning ideas, you can also find Colima, Nuevo Caxitlán, El Limoncito, Manzanillo, Tecomán, Cuyutlán and El Puertecito here.

Back to the main travel overview: Colima.