An interior courtyard is planted with trees and displays murals with regional themes. This huge, white, twin-towered cathedral with a striking, tiered facade sits opposite the Palacio de Gobierno at the other end of the plaza. The original adobe chapel on this site, completed in 1778, had decayed so much by 1877 that 800 local women petitioned the Catholic diocese to have it replaced. The museum's 18 rooms feature comprehensive exhibits on the astronomy, geology, history, natural history, and anthropology of Sonora. Although not part of the regular tour, you can ask the staff to open the underground cells where prisoners were kept in solitary confinement.
Museum hours are Wed.-Sat.
To reach the museum from downtown Hermosillo, take Blvd. Rosales and Blvd. Encinas, opened its doors in 1974 and contains numerous historical and archaeological exhibits from northwestern Mexico. Rosales and Encinas. Shopping Hermosillo's traditional shopping district is centered around the 1920-vintage Mercado Municipal Jos Mar a Pino Su rez at Calle Matamoros near calles Serd n, Monterrey, and Morelia.