Guanajuato (, Otomi: ) is a municipality in central Mexico and the capital of the state of Guanajuato. It is part of the Bajío macroregion. The city is built in a narrow valley, which gives its streets a winding layout; many are narrow alleys inaccessible to cars, while others consist of long stairways up the mountainsides. Several of its thoroughfares run partially or entirely underground. Its historic center contains numerous small plazas and colonial-era mansions, churches, and civic buildings constructed from pink or green sandstone. The historic center and adjacent mines were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.

Guanajuato's wealth came from the rich mineral deposits in the surrounding mountains. Its mines were among the most important in the Americas during the colonial period, alongside those of Zacatecas in Mexico, Potosí in Bolivia, and Ouro Preto in Brazil. One of these mines, Valenciana Mine, was responsible for two-thirds of the world's silver production at the height of its output. For this reason, the UNESCO designation applies to the Historic Town and Adjacent Mines.

The city is also home to the Mummy Museum, which houses naturally mummified bodies found in the municipal cemetery between the mid-19th and 20th centuries. It is likewise home to the Festival Internacional Cervantino, which attracts artists and performers from Mexico and around the world. Guanajuato was also the site of the first battle of the Mexican War of Independence, fought between insurgent forces and royalist troops at the Alhóndiga de Granaditas.

History

Pre-Hispanic period

The first known inhabitants of the area were the Otomi, who were then displaced by the Chichimeca. There was Purépecha presence as well due mostly to ancient trading routes. The oldest known name for the area is “Mo-o-ti,” which means “place of metals.” Later, it was called "Paxtitlán" by the Aztecs, which means “place of Spanish moss.” The current name of Guanajuato comes from Purépecha (or in older spelling "quanax huato"), which means “frog hill”.

Mining had been done in this area long before the Spanish arrived. Late in the pre-Hispanic period the Aztecs had a presence here, specifically to look for metals to make ornamental objects for their political and religious elite. Some stories from this time state that the area was so rich in minerals that nuggets of gold could be picked up from the ground.

Colonial era

The Spanish found deposits of gold here in the 1540s and soon they sent soldiers and built forts.

The very first mineral vein discovered, called San Bernabé, attracted attention not only in New Spain, but in Spain itself. The discovery brought thousands of migrants to the area, which led to the discovery of other deposits, such as at the Rayas mine. The San Bernabé find produced until 1928, when it tapped out. Today, the remains of this mine are found in the small village of La Luz, just outside the city proper.thumb|Basílica Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato (Our Lady of Guanajuato) built in 1671 to 1696.|leftIn 1679, by decree of viceroy of Mexico Fray Payo Enriquez de Rivera, the name was changed to Ciudad de Santa Fe y Real de Minas de Guanajuato (Very Noble and Loyal City of Santa Fe y Real de Minas de Guanajuato). It received an escutcheon in the same year, which is still in use. The city's coat of arms has a gold background with an image of a woman in the center referring to the Holy Faith (Santa Fe). It contains other images such as a seashell supported by two laurel branches, blue ribbon and marble columns. It is topped with the royal crown of Castille and acanthus leaves. making it the richest city in Mexico for much of the early colonial period. The production of the La Valenciana mine alone affected the world economy, and made the counts of Valencianas one of the most powerful families in New Spain.

The War of Independence broke out in the state of Guanajuato in the town of Dolores, when Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla shouted the “Grito de Dolores” and raised an insurgent army on September 15 and 16, 1810. This army marched to San Miguel, today San Miguel de Allende, and then on to the city of Guanajuato.

Just on the outskirts on September 28, 1810, Hidalgo sent a warning letter to city authorities, but it was ignored.

thumb|Guanajuato in the 19th century.

Post Independence

After Independence, the province of Guanajuato was made a state, and the city was made its capital in 1824. However, fighting in the state and the rest of the country continued as Liberals, who wanted a Federalist government, fought with Conservatives, who wanted a centralized government under a monarch or dictator. Power in the city and state changed hands between the two factions during much of the 19th century, taking its toll on mining. The city was the provisional capital of the country in 1858 as Liberal president Benito Juárez fought Conservative rebels. In 1863, the French took the city during the French Intervention in Mexico, receiving a visit from the installed Emperor Maximiliano I and his wife, Carlota. French occupation ended in early 1867. The Mexican General Florencio Antillón captured it on January 26, 1868, from the Conservatives.

Flooding had been a serious problem through most of the city's history, due to the area's steep compact hillsides. In 1760 and 1780 two major floods nearly wiped it out. This spurred construction of large ditches and tunnels to contain and divert overflows during the rainy season. These eventually crisscrossed a large part of the city. Dam construction in the 1960s brought the flooding under control, While the author never did visit Mexico, Guanajuato has close emotional ties to Cervantine works; the city bills itself as the Cervantes Capital of the Americas and exhibits statues of Don Quijote and Sancho Panza.

Geography

Climate

Two climates predominate. One is fairly hot and dominates in the south and southeast portions of the municipality. The other is temperate and dominates the rest of the territory, including the city. In the warmer areas, temperatures can reach as high as in the summer and in the coldest area can get as low as in the winter. Average temperature overall is with an average annual precipitation of between . Most of the rain falls during the monsoon season between June and September.

| source 2 = NOAA (precipitation days, humidity, sun 1991-2020)

Layout and transportation

thumb|Callejón del Beso (Kiss Alley).

Initially, the city was divided into four barrios or neighborhoods: Marfil/Santiago, Tepetapa, Santa Ana and Santa Fe. The last is considered the oldest and is in the current colonia of Pastita. The city was split by a small river that serves as a main thoroughfare. Because of the extremely hilly terrain, only one main road enters and another one leaves. The main street into the city, called Belaunzarán, now runs for three km underground and follows the original course of the Guanajuato River. Most of the passageways are really alleys with a limited amount of open space in the way of very small plazas, which gives the city a more European flavor than other Mexican cities. Another famous alley is the Callejón Tecolote, through which Ignacio Allende and Miguel Hidalgo entered with their army in 1810. The name comes from a legend of two young lovers who come to a tragic end:

The narrow streets and alleys have given rise to a pastime called "callejoneadas". These are roving parties, traditionally held by the students of the University of Guanajuato with live musicians.

The streets and alleys of the city are filled with mostly colonial era buildings, restaurants, bars, cafes with terraces and small plazas. Buildings have been constructed of sandstone in pink and green, adobe and other stone, filling the streets with shades of pink, green, ocher and red. These tunnel were built to prevent flooding. In the 1960s the old river tunnels were strengthened, as they were in poor condition and showed signs of collapse and subsidence.

The first road journey was completed in 1961. The old tunnels were of a suitable size for cars, medium-sized bus and vans but prevented larger transport getting into the city. A second tunnel was dug during the late 1960s, which diverted the river much deeper. Several additional tunnels were excavated during the 1990s. In addition to traffic, pedestrians can also use the underground streets.

Mines

thumb|left|[[La Valenciana Church (San Cayetano)|San Cayetano Church near the mine of La Valenciana.]]

The mines that made Guanajuato rich are inside and just outside the city proper. A number of these mines gave rise to small communities with their own churches; these still exist with other institutions such as museums. The best-known mines gave their names to a number of the city's oldest neighborhoods such as Cata, Rayas y Mellado, La Pastita, San Luisito and Valenciana. Some of these mines are open to the public for tours. The first significant mine was called San Bernabé, which brought thousands of adventurers to Guanajuato and led to the discovery of other mineral deposits. This mine functioned from the 16th century until 1928. The remains of this mine can still be found in the small village of La Luz just outside the city. it was one of the most productive silver mines in the world, accounting for 2/3 of the world's production at its peak. Dedicated to Saint Cajetan, it was built between 1765 and 1788. The church has a Churrigueresque portal, which has been compared to the Mexico City Cathedral and La Santisima Church, both in Mexico City. The interior conserves a number of gilded altarpieces and a pulpit that is encrusted with ivory and precious hardwoods.

thumb|Foreground: Old facilities of [[Valenciana Mine|La Valenciana. Background: CIMAT.]]

Near La Valenciana Mine is the Guadalupe Mine, established in the 16th century. This complex was built with extremely large and thick stone walls supported by buttresses, giving it the look of a medieval fortress. The mine is no longer in operation but the complex has been undergoing redevelopment as a resort.

La Cata mine is one of the early mines, and a city neighborhood is named after it. The mine is near Don Quijote Plaza. It began operations in 1558 with peak production in the first quarter of the 18th century. It was owned by the Marquis of San Clemente.

Mummies

thumb|left|230px|A [[Mummies of Guanajuato display]]

thumb|Photo of 1897 of the mummies of Guanajuato at 'Old Mexico, 1897,' collected by F. M. White.

The city's most famous tourist attraction is the Mummies of Guanajuato, which are in their own museum on the side of the municipal cemetery in the Tepetapa neighborhood. The Mummy Museum contains a collection of specimens that mummified naturally in the adjoining cemetery. It is considered the largest collection of mummies in the Western Hemisphere. The mummies were disinterred from the municipal cemetery between 1870 and 1958, and were people who died between 1850 and 1950. More commonly, it is likely the result of Guanajuato's altitude or the abundance of minerals in the soil. However, all of the mummified remains were found in the cemetery's above ground cement crypts, not in underground graves.

A mayor of the city, Dr. Eduardo Hicks, initiated the Guanajuato Mummy Research Project in 2007 to increase knowledge and awareness of the specimens. They have since been extensively studied in Mexico and the United States. The study has found evidence of medical conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, extreme anemia lung damage from smoke inhalation and tuberculosis. Some of the research looked into the folklore surrounding a number of the mummies such as the man with a misshapen face thought to have been caused by a mortal blow, a woman who was supposedly hanged by her husband and a woman who is thought to have been buried alive. No scientific evidence has been found to support the last two stories. as short plays performed by University of Guanajuato students based on the works of Cervantes.

thumb|Traditional "[[Tuna (music)|tuna" or "estudiantina" band. A form of rondalla serenade widely practiced by students in Guanajuato.]]

The festival hosts events such as opera, theater productions, film showings, art exhibitions, academic conferences and talks, concerts and dance recitals. The performances occur in 70 venues over most of the month of October.

Landmarks

Area around Plaza de la Paz, Basilica and the Legislative Palace

left|thumb|Plaza de la Paz and the [[Basílica colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato (2009).]]

The center of the modern city is Plaza de la Paz (Plaza of Peace), also known as Plaza Mayor (Main Plaza). Since the colonial period, the richest of the city's families built their main homes here, along with government buildings and the parish church, now a basilica. This plaza is a garden with a sculpture of a woman representing peace; its placement here in the late 19th century caused the official name to change to Plaza de la Paz. Today, the plaza is surrounded by the basilica, other churches, and governmental and commercial buildings, many of which were once mansions. Still remaining around the plaza are mansions that belonged to local nobility such as the Counts of Rul, Count of Gálvez, and the Count De los Chico. The Rul house was constructed at the end of the 18th century by architect Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras. It is noted for its inner courtyard, Overall, the church is a sober Mexican Baroque in style but there are popular elements from donations made by the area's miners, and other elements that demonstrate the influence of several of the city's rich mining nobility. The Marquis of San Clemente and Pedro Lascuráin de Retana were the current building's first patrons. Later, the Counts of Valenciana left their influence as well with the donation of a clock for one of the towers and the acquisition of relics related to a saint and martyr named Faustina obtained from the Pope. These relics are in the main altar. The main portal is made of pink sandstone with “estipite” or inverted truncated pyramidal columns. The building is two floors, nearly windowless with a very large courtyard in its interior. Construction began in 1798 under an architect named Durán y Villaseñor and terminated under José del Mazo. The main reason for its importance today is that it was the site of the first battle of the Mexican War of Independence between insurgents and royalist troops on September 28, 1810. The large courtyard within the Alhóndiga is a traditional place to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day with the reenactment of Miguel Hidalgo's “El Grito de Dolores.” It is one of the sites for a number of the events of the Festival Cervantino.

University of Guanajuato

thumb|[[Universidad de Guanajuato|University of Guanajuato]]

The University of Guanajuato began as a Jesuit school for children in the first half of the 18th century. The establishment of this school was sponsored by Josefa Teresa de Busto y Moya, sister of the Marquis of San Clemente, who obtained permission for the school from the Spanish Crown in 1732 and established the institution in her home. She donated a fifth of her fortune toward it and worked to obtain donations from other wealthy families in the city. However, credit for the establishment of the school is most often given to Jesuits. Over time, the school grew and began to offer high school and professional level studies. It held several names over its history, from Real Colegio de la Purísima Concepción (1767), Colegio del Estado (1828), Colegio Nacional de Guanajuato (1867), with its current name adopted in 1945. It is popular with wandering student musicians performing callejoneadas and functions as the atrium of San Diego Church. The monastery, which was also destroyed, was never rebuilt, but the site is now home to San Diego Museum. It was created to rescue and display the cultural inheritance of the city, describing its development and changes from its beginnings to the present day. It also contains a computer simulation of what the original monastery looked like. It has a façade with narrow estipite columns in Churrigueresque style, but its more famous aspect is a colossal cupola with three levels, which was added in the 19th century by architect Vicente Heredia.

Another important area of the historic center is the San Roque plaza and church. There is a stone cross, which indicates the ground was once used as a cemetery. San Roque Church dates from 1726. It has a sober Baroque façade and contains an important collection of colonial era paintings. Jardín Reforma has an arched entryway with a series of thin columns. It is considered one of the most beautiful theaters in the country, according to Mexico Desconocido. The theater was built from 1872 to 1903 by Antonio Rivas Mercado, who designed the Angel of Independence monument in Mexico City, and was inaugurated with the opera Aida by Giuseppe Verdi with President Porfirio Díaz in attendance.

Museo del Pueblo de Guanajuato was created to exhibit the best of the artwork of the city. It contains an important collection of religious art from the 17th to 19th centuries. It contains collections of works by Olga Costa and José Chávez Morado. in the suburb of Marfil, was the former Santa Ana Hacienda and belonged to Canadian artist Gene Byron. Byron began studying Mexican muralists in 1941, but her work was also influenced by contemporary Spanish artists. She and her husband settled in Guanajuato in 1958, and took over this ex-hacienda in 1962. Today the grounds are a cultural center that hosts art exhibitions, theatrical productions, concerts, and book presentations. which cover an area of . There are two caves consecrated to Ignatius of Loyola. They are on opposite sides of the summit and called the “old” and “new” cave. Each July 31, there is a pilgrimage to the “new” cave in honor of the saint. Sometime during the colonial period, an image of Ignatius was painted on a wall. According to legend, a group of male witches used to use the cave for their rites on the eve before the Catholic ritual, “forcing” the image on the wall to observe. Cerro de la Bufa is home to another legend about an enchanted princess. It states that on feast days, a woman would appear to a man on a road in the mountain and ask him to carry her to the Basilica in the city center in his arms. If he did so, the city of Guanajuato would return to the height of its wealth. If he chose to do so, noises and threats from behind would haunt him. If he lost his resolve, the woman would turn into a serpent and kill him. No woman has ever been carried from this mountain to the Basilica.

thumb|Cristo Rey del [[Cerro del Cubilete|Cubilete.]]

Presa de la Olla is a dam that was constructed in the mid 18th century to supply the city with potable water. The area became a popular gathering place for young aristocrats, and later the lower classes as well. The area hosts the Feast of San Juan every June 24. The origin of this event dates from the colonial period when a poor miner came here to give thanks for the recent arrival of rains. The current event culminates with the “opening of the dam,” which attracts hundreds to watch the water flow. Today, the event stretches over the second and third week in June and has taken on new elements such as a beauty contest and dances with techno, reggaetón, Duranguese and Grupero music. The dam is used for water sports, and there is a park named Florencio Antillon Garden next to it.

The Christ the King Monument was constructed on the top of Cubilete Mountain in 1923 by architect Nicolás Mariscal Piña and sculptor Fidias Elizondo. The sculpture stands tall and shows Christ with his arms extended flanked by two angels who hold a crown of thorns and a royal crown. The sculpture weighs . From the plaza, one can see the entire Bajio Valley.

Twin towns – sister cities

Guanajuato City has reached twin town and sister city agreements with a substantial number of cities for a relatively small city in a Mexican context (123rd largest city in 2015).<!----> The most iconic and visible relationship is that with Ashland. The rest of the sister city relationships are comparatively quite inactive. Sister city agreements include:

Notable natives and residents

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  • Alfredo Dugès, Mexican naturalist.
  • Emma Godoy, academic and writer.
  • Jorge Ibargüengoitia, journalist and writer.
  • Jorge Negrete, Mexican singer from the "Golden Age" of Mexican cinema.
  • Diego Rivera, Mexican muralist.
  • José Alfredo Jiménez, Mexican singer-songwriter
  • , poet, writer and director of the theater of the University of Guanajuato.
  • Agustin Lanuza, Poet, Writer.
  • Enrique Romero Courtade, Regent of the Central Department (Jefe del Departamento Central/ formerly Mexico D.F). Diplomat.
  • Lucas Alamán, politician

See also

  • List of buildings in Guanajuato City

References

Bibliography

  • Lanuza, Agustin (1910) https://worldcat.org/en/title/814512883
  • Municipio de Guanajuato Capital Official website government
  • Guía de Guanajuato Capital Official Guide Guanajuato City
  • The City Of Guanajuato by Doreen Stevens, Our Mexico
  • Photo Essay of Valenciana Church of San Cayetano and environs in Guanajuato
  • High resolution photographs and discussion in English