The Ajijic municipal cemetery has a tradition of elaborate painted murals on its boundary walls, depicting Day of the Dead imagery, local history, and Mexican memento mori themes. The paintings are done in the saturated primary colors of Mexican folk art — skulls in festive clothing, mourning figures surrounded by marigolds, scenes from village life — and are renewed and elaborated periodically by local artists.
Visiting a Mexican cemetery may sound morbid, but here it is anything but. The tone is celebratory rather than somber, in keeping with the Day of the Dead tradition that treats death as a continuation of life. The cemetery is open to visitors during the day and is particularly atmospheric in late October and early November when families decorate graves with flowers and candles.