This nearly abandoned town, isolated amid the arid mountains and high desert of the Sierra Madre Oriental, attracts only the most curious of solitary of travellers, as well as pilgrims who come to venerate a miraculous effigy of St. Francis of Assisi. Rarely seen in town, Huichol Indians scour the surrounding hills in search of sacred peyote, a hallucinogenic plant used in mystical rituals throughout the year.

It doesn’t take long to complete the tourist circuit. The simple stone church, the Parroquia de la Purisima Concepcion, is built in the traditional Latin cross format, with a single sturdy bell tower. Tucked in a side altar, its image of St. Francis of Assisi is said to have miraculous powers, attested by the hundreds of naïve ex-votos on display.