A Day in the Historic Town of Guanajuato City, Mexico
Mexico is a beautiful country with much of the tourism in the beach cities. There is so much to discover in the interior of Mexico and in the colonial towns. On a recent trip to Mexico we spent a day in Guanajuato City, a colonial city in the mountains. We found so much history with so much to see in this beautiful city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This is an overview of 10 things to see if your time is limited while visiting Guanajuato City.
#1 - Start at the scenic overlook to get a good overview of the historic city.
As you come into the city there is an overlook called Monumento Al Pipila. This is a great place to start.
The large statue that stands out is El Pipila, considered a hero in Guanajuato City during the Mexican Independence war. The story goes that the man, Juan José de los Reyes Martínez Amaro, set fire to the doors of the area where the Spanish troops were holed up. This allowed the Mexicans to begin to take back the city. He holds up a torch in the statue signifying his contribution.
Looking down from the overlook, you’ll notice the bright colors of the houses. As a part of this historic portion of the city every house is painted a designated color. Makes for a very colorful city.
The bright colored church is Basílica colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato, built in the 17th century. It sits right in the center of this historic city.
Finally, notice the “bowl shape” of the city. What made this city so rich is the all the silver mines in the surrounding hills.
From here you can always take the funicular down into the center of town.
#2 - Look for Don Quixote.
This city loves the fictional figure of Don Quixote, which was first brought to the city by Don Eulalio Ferrer. Ferrer fought in the Spanish Civil War. When we was taken prisoner he read the book “Man of La Mancha,” written by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. He then basically became obsessed with all things Don Quixote, and, upon returning to Mexico began a collection of Don Quixote art.
In fact there is a festival every year celebrating the life of the original author called, The International Cervantino Artistic and Cultural Festival. As you walk around the city, you’ll find multiple statues dedicated to this fictional character.
There is even a Don Quixote museum, with many works of art all dedicated to him. Ferrer donated much of the work in the museum which opened in 1987. Unfortunately, our visit was on a Monday and all museums were closed. If you are interested in museums, I would recommend going another day.
#3 - Wander the streets of the historic district of Guanajuato
The Templo de San Francisco is a beautiful church constructed in the 17th century. The pink stone makes it a really unique building to look at.
Continue wandering down the streets, that are all make of stone. Now you’re in the heart of the historic district.
#4 - Visit the Teatro Juarez
This theatre opened in 1903. It is the most important venue of the Festival Cervantino each year. If you can, go inside. When we visited it was closed for renovations.
We were fortunate, in our day trip, we had a tour guide that shared all kinds of interesting fun facts. On the top of the building sit statues of the classical Greek muses. There should be nine of them. Due to delays in the creation of the bronze statues, only eight were complete by the time the theatre was to open.
If you look at the image below, the ninth Greek muse is a miniature sitting in the palm of the hand of one of the other muses.
#5 - Walk the Underground Tunnels
One of the most fascinating things to check out in this city is actually underground. The Rio Guanajuato ran right though the city, and would often flood the area. In the 19th century a tunnel was built to help prevent flooding in this bowl shaped city.
As the city grew, in the 1960’s a second tunnel was built, now to allow traffic to flow easier through the city.
Today, there are cars, and even bus stops below ground in these tunnels. The traffic in the tunnels goes generally east and the traffic goes west above ground. This gives Google maps a workout for sure!
When the tunnels are empty they are kind of creepy, but they are not empty for long, as a lot of traffic goes through there every day. They do have sidewalks and pedestrian ramps in much of the tunnel system.
#6 - Find a park to sit and cool off
This park Jardin de la Union is right in the center of town. The beautiful trees kept the area cool on a hot day. Note the funicular heading up the hill. There are parks all over this pretty city.
#7 - Check out the University of Guanajuato
This is, afterall, a modern day college town. The University sits largely in a beautiful historic building in the center of the town.
#9 - The Alley of the Kiss
Steal A Kiss on the famous Kissing alley. This is a Mexican version of a Romeo and Juliet story. A wealthy young girl, lived with her family in a home here. She fell in love with a young man who worked in the silver mines. He rented a room in the house right behind hers in the alley, so they could meet secretly and kiss. Her father found out, and became enraged, tragically killing them both.
It is rumored the ghosts of the two young lovers haunt the alley. Needless to say, it’s a fun place to stop and add to the story.
#10 - Spend more than one day!
If there is more time available other sites to see are the Mummy Museum, the silver mines and get inside some of the museums.
What it takes to become a UNESCO World Heritage site is that it needs to be unique, irreplaceable and exceptional. We found Guanajuato to definitely be all three of these things. One day was definitely not enough time in this beautiful city.
As for us, we will be back to Guanajuato again for sure!
