PICTURED SITES ARE DESCRIBED IN THIS TEXT.
Vantage describes Mexico as a surprisingly complex nation of many cultures, ancient civilizations, and friendly people which we explored ranging from charming Spanish-colonial towns with cobbled plazas and vast complexes of pre-Columbian ruins to sophisticated cities full of culture, baroque architecture and the arts. We learned of the people's traditions through music and dance performances and museum visits.
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Guanajuato has a population of about 100,000. It is located 62 miles west of San Miguel and 225 miles northwest of Mexico City.
Once the most prominent silver mining city in colonial Mexico, Guanajuato is in a gorge surrounded by mountains 6,700 feet in elevation. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. We were warned it was a compact maze of cobblestone streets, squares and traffic tunnels, making it easy to lose one's sense of direction. There is an absence of heavy traffic in the narrow streets because many vehicles are routed through the system of underground tunnels beneath the city. Many years ago the river passed through these passages and, after many years of routine flooding, was diverted away from the town. The old river bed then became an ideal subterranean highway. Today many houses have balconies suspended above these strange, winding roads.
El Pipila is the nickname for Juan Jose de los Reyes Martinez, a young miner and hero of the War of Independence of 1810. He gained his fame when he made his way into the Alhondiga de Granaditas, used as a fortress during the war, and set the door ablaze where Spanish Royalists were hiding. Father Hidalgo's army was able to capture the Spanish troops in the first major military victory for the independence forces. The monument on San Gabriel Hill overlooks the town with a spectacular view. A funicular runs between the statue and downtown.
The fortress site of El Pipila's adventure had been an 18th-century grain-storage facility. Hooks where Spanish Royalists hung severed heads of Father Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, and two other independence leaders still dangle on the outside of the stone structure. Since 1967, it has been a state museum with exhibits on local history, archaeology, and crafts.
Jardin Union is the city's central square. Referred to as "the wedge" because of its shape, it is a tree-lined plaza with pedestrian walkways on three sides. The triangular park has many benches set beneath laurel trees sculpted to form an overhead hedge.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Guanajuato is a 17th-century bright yellow Baroque church near the main square. It houses Mexico's oldest Christian statue, a jeweled 8th-century Virgin which was a gift from King Philip II of Spain in 1557. Construction of the parish church, now the Basilica, began in 1671 and was completed in 1696. It is considered to be one of the finest examples of 17th-century baroque architecture.
Mercado Hidalgo is a cast-iron-and-glass structure designed by the famous Gustave Eiffel. The town's primary marketplace is full of stalls selling toys, crafts, clothing and housewares as well as fresh meats, cheeses, vegetables and fruits. The building was designed by the Eiffel civil engineering firm to be a French train station but was purchased by the Mexican government and erected in Guanajuato in 1910.
Juarez Theatre is near the main square. Bronze lion sculptures and large Greek muses line the roof. The first performance in the theatre in 1903 was "Aida." It is considered to be one of the most beautiful opera houses in Mexico. Doric columns support its neo-classical portico. The steps of the building were filled with young students who were in the city to participate in examinations scheduled the next day.
Guanajuato University was founded in 1732 after beginning as a Jesuit seminary. The facade of its buildings were designed to blend in with the town's architecture.
Preceding construction of the Church of San Diego begun by the Franciscan Order in 1763, a structure containing a convent was built on that location in 1662. The church building was destroyed by a flood in 1780 with reconstruction concluded in 1784. The façade carved in pink cantera stone is a good example of Mexican baroque architecture.
We passed but did not visit Casa de Diego Rivera, the birthplace and childhood home of the popular Mexican muralist. On the ground floor several rooms contain family furnishings. Upstairs is a selection of Rivera's drawings and paintings.
Branching off Guanajuato's main streets, many narrow passageways cut between colonial houses. We walked to the location of the narrowest, known as Callejon del Beso (Alley of the Kiss), with the balconies of houses on either side practically touching. A local romantic legend tells of young lovers living on opposite sides of the lane who were forbidden from courting by the girl's father. He apparently didn't realize that they could furtively exchange kisses without ever leaving their homes.
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