One of my favorite cities in Mexico has to be Guanajuato! The capital of
the state, by the same name, is home to a fantastic mix of aesthetic beauty,
history, and intrigue.Silver Riches and the War for Independence
Guanajuato, established in the mid-1500's, is located in a valley, and was an important silver mining town during the colonial era. While it was originally less profitable than some of it's nearby neighbors, during the early 1700's, two mines of the city discovered very large sliver veins, and the city quickly became the largest producer of silver in the world. It produced 20-25% of Spain's silver. Guanajuato was located along the Camino Real, or Royal Road, built by the Spanish to help quickly and safely transport precious metal ore to foundries and then to Mexico City or the coast, for proper accounting and control of the precious metals. The great wealth that came to Guanajuato through the mines, resulted in the construction of beautiful mansions, churches, theaters, which give the city it's colonial charm we still enjoy today.
Political changes
in the later 1700s and early 1800's brought significant changes to prosperous
Guanajuato. Calls for independence and the seeds of change were being
sown in the nearby towns of Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende.
With the uprisings in this newly beginning war for independence, it was
demanded that the crown-imposed head of Guanajuato step down. He declined
and the insurgents brought the battle to Guanajuato. The forces of the
crown and the town's wealthy criollo families (full blood Spaniards, born on
the American continent) retreated to the town's granary, La Alhóndiga, while
waiting for reinforcements from the crown. They believed that the massive
structure would serve as an impenetrable fortress and the crown's troops fired
at the roughly 20,000 insurgents (and those they'd drafted into their company
en route) coming over the nearby hill.
Since the crown closely controlled the availability of
gunpowder and arms, the insurgents were armed primarily with slingshots and
stones, and a lone firearm here and there. So while they were great in number,
the insurgents were at a severe disadvantage when it came to weaponry,
especially with the crown's troops safely behind massive walls. (The
damage inflicted to the structures walls by the insurgent's stones is still
visible on the building's facade today.) The only way in was to get through the
massive wooden doors into the inside of the stone structure. From here
stems the story of Pípila, a hero of Guanajuato. An indigenous miner
known for his tremendous strength, he volunteered to approach the fortress and
under fire, light up the doors. He tied a massive stone to his back to
act as a shield and under a shower of bullets, he took a torch to the doors of
the granary.
With the doors
burning, the insurgents stormed the granary and a brutal massacre took place.
At the end of the battle, most of Guanajuato's wealthy criollo families
had either been killed or had fled. The brutality of the battle led to a
schism within the ranks of the insurgents seeking independence, as some like
Ignacio Allende, belonged to the criollo ranks. The result being that
many criollo families who had initially supported the insurgency turned away
from it. Roughly a year later, leaders of this battle, including Juan
Aldama, Mariana Jimenez , Ignacio Allende, and later Miguel Hidalgo were
captured and sentenced to death. As a warning to the locals and a
deterrent to further uprisings against the crown, their decapitated heads were
hung in cages at the four corners of the granary. The hooks on the
corners remain today, and the names of each of these four heroes of Mexican
Independence have been inscribed into the corners of the building.
Tunnels and Guanajuato Today
Today, Guanajuato's mines are mostly closed. However a beautiful colonial town with a large university remains. We attempted to explore the interior of the most famous building on campus, but it was closed for the holidays. So instead we took a requisite photo on the iconic steps. We visited several of the city's impressive churches on our trek through town. One thing we found interesting, is that on the spire of the churches of Guanajuato, the cross has a double set of arms. 
We also enjoyed a
return visit to the beautifully ornate Teatro Juárez, one of the crown jewels
of the town's center, which has hosted many important performances and
dignitaries. The theater was originally opened in 1903 and was built in
an opulent neoclassical style, typical under the long presidency of Porfirio
Díaz. Díaz himself was present at the theater's opening. On the
exterior of the theater, there are statues signifying the different artistic
muses.
Another claim to
fame in Guanajuato, is that city is the birthplace of Diego Rivera. You
can visit the home, which has now been turned into a museum.
Guanajuato also had it's own Romeo and Juliet story.
What remains as a point of pilgrimage is the Callejón del Beso (the Alley
of the Kiss). This is a narrow alley way where the buildings are roughly
2 feet apart. The story goes that Ana, was a well to do young lady who
lived in the house on one said of the alley way. Carlos, a young man of
humble means, rented a room in the house across the alley, with the room facing
Ana's balcony. As their love blossomed, Ana's father learned of the
affair and prohibited his daughter from seeing Carlos. The love ended
tragically. Today, tourists line up to see the houses and to give each
other a kiss for good luck. 
Another one of the intriguing characteristics of Guanajuato
is that many of the city roads are built underground. Under the city, you
find a rat maze of traffic tunnels, full of one-way streets, and intersections.
For the uninitiated, it is a little nerve-wracking, as you loose all
sense of direction without any queues from the outside world. Tunnels
curve, intersect at odd angles, and signage is virtually non-existent (or at
least not obvious to the untrained eye). I was glad not to be driving! And
I enjoyed the thrill of diving underground in one place and re-emerging in
another. Interestingly, the tunnels also have sidewalks beside the road,
and it is not uncommon for pedestrians to be walking right along side the
vehicles rushing through the dark. Again, not sure this is the route I'd
feel comfortable taking on foot, but there were plenty of men and women doing
so.Mummies
Another intriguing characteristic of Guanajuato are the
mummies; including "modern day" mummies, which you can see at the
famous Mummy Museum. Unlike stereotypical mummies of Egypt, the mummies
are not embalmed or wrapped in any way with the intent that they be preserved.
In Guanajuato, the natural mummification of the deceased was discovered
by accident in the 19th century when several bodies were disinterred in the
Santa Paula cemetery. 
The mummification
here here is a result of the natural characteristics of the mineral content of
the soil soil and dry climate where these individuals were buried, and it
occurs regularly and quickly in the town's municipal cemetery. When an
individual is laid to rest, the family has 5 years to finish paying for their
plot. If the family is unable to do so, the body becomes a "cuerpo
perdido" (lost body), and becomes the property of the government.
When space became an issue in this cemetery, these "cuerpos
perdidos" were exhumed, in order to make room for new "paying
customers". Upon doing so, it was discovered, that the bodies had
not decomposed, but rather had been dehydrated so quickly that they had become
mummified. Skin, hair, and clothing are still generally intact.
Mouths are often open, not as a sign of suffering, but rather as part of
the natural process of facial muscles having relaxed completely (not unlike
someone sleeping on their back with their mouth open). 
No comments:
Post a Comment