Serdan Street

Serdan Street is the historic core of Guaymas, a stretch of nineteenth-century architecture that survived the city's industrial development largely intact. The old Municipal Palace, the Banco de México building, and the Church of San Fernando line the street with a mix of colonial and Porfirian-era styles that make for a surprisingly engaging architectural walk in what is otherwise a working port city.

The decommissioned Carcel Municipal is the most arresting building — a fortress-like jail with dome towers that looks as if it was dropped in from another era. The street also has the best concentration of local shops, pharmacies, and cantinas where you can get a sense of everyday life in the city rather than the resort version on offer in San Carlos.

things to do sight architecture
A story
The Carcel Municipal on Serdan Street — now decommissioned — looks more like a medieval castle than a Mexican jail, with dome towers at each corner and thick fortress walls. Built in the nineteenth century, it is one of the stranger pieces of architecture in northwestern Mexico, a colonial fantasy dropped into a working port city.