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The Cuernavaca Cathedral was built by the Franciscans around the year 1526. Despite undergoing modifications over nearly 500 years of existence, the original complex still preserves the large atrium and its cross, the church, the cloisters, and the open chapel of San Juan.

Almost all of the walls feature 17th-century paintings of great artistic and historical value. In the walkways of the lower cloister, the spectacular image of Saint Christopher with the Child Jesus is housed—one of the most important sculptures from the colonial period. The open chapel of San José is one of the oldest chapels on the continent and an essential part of the complex.

The façade of the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows shows Neoclassical decorative elements, while the Chapel of the Third Order was built in a distinctive local style and stands as a worthy example of 18th-century Baroque. Its façade was finished with mortar similar to that used in the church of Tepalcingo. The Chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was built in a Neo-Gothic style. Inside, it features a Neoclassical altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin of the same name, with only a single central niche.