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Biblioteca Gertrudis Bocanegra

On the northern side of Plaza Chica and occupying the cavernous 16th-century Templo de San Agustín, this stunning public library has a barrel-vaulted ceiling, oyster-shell skylights and a massive, very colorful mural (1942) by Juan O’Gorman on the rear wall that depicts the history of Michoacán from pre-Hispanic times to the 1910 Revolution. Note the remnants of original frescoes on the east and west walls.

To the west of the library, the Teatro Emperador Caltzontzin was a convent until it was converted into a theater in 1936; it functions today as an art-house cinema screening an occasional Hollywood blockbuster..

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