Guanajuato - Plaza de la Paz

On the east side of the University towers the massive bulk of the church of La Compañía, a Jesuit foundation of 1747. The façade is in Churrigueresque style, the mighty dome Neo-Classical. The church contains two pictures by the great Mexican painter Miguel Cabrera. On the way back to the main square we pass the Plazuela del Barratillo, with its pretty fountain presented to the town by the Emperor Maximilian.

Avenida Benito Juárez leads to the Plaza de la Paz (Peace Square) in which, to the right, stands the Baroque Basilica of Nuestro Señora de Guanajuato, formerly the parish church. This church, originally 17th c. but much altered thereafter, houses the much revered statue of the Virgin of Guanajuato, a carved wooden figure on a silver base which is believed to date from the 7th c. and was presented to Guanajuato by King Philip II of Spain in 1557.

This government building was finished in 1900. There is a library within the building as well.

To the north of the Municipal Museum the main building of the University (rebuilt in 1955) is approached by an impressive flight of steps. The University is built of white stone in a colonial style showing Moorish influence which fits very naturally into the townscape of Guanajuato.