Thursday, July 20, 2017

Trip to Guanajuato (Part 2 of 3)

Iglesia de la Valenciana

Guanajuato


After lunch at Hacienda Sepulveda, we continued on to city of Guanajuato, which is also the capital of the State of Guanajuato.

Gold and silver were discovered in this area in the 16th century, and the town grew quite rapidly.  In fact, the hotel that we stayed in was once a lodge, supporting the mining industry (among many others in the town that have been turned into hotels).

There are many underground tunnels and roads, which help keep the traffic flowing throughout the city (quite impressive).  There are homes built up on the hillsides above the town which are accessible only on foot, as the roads are too narrow for vehicles.

Here are my photos of Guanajuato:

Monument to the miners, as you come into the city
We took a city tour on this trolley!
One of the Dutch homes in the city
Street scene in one of the main plaza areas

Cervantino-costumed performers (nightly in the main plaza)
Tribute to Cervantes (author of Don Quixote)

The Valenciana Church 


La Valenciaia chuch is an 18th-century Mexican church built at the opening of the La Valenciana mine, the site of the largest vein of silver found in Mexico. It was built by Antonio de Ordóñez y Alcocer, the owner of the mine, to give thanks to his patron saint (Saint Cajetan) for the riches the mine provided. The church is noted for use of gold leaf, especially the main altarpieces which are completely covered in the metal. The church is also a site of the Festival Internacional Cervantino.





 


 
Castillo de Santa Cecilia, a hotel you can stay in!

Part 3 of this blog post will be about the short time we spent in San Miguel de Allende.

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