Guanajuato Attractions

It is worth driving along Avenida Miguel Hidalgo - which follows the line of the old river bed, running underground for part of the way - into the Carretera Panorámica, from which there are magnificent views of the town and surroundings. Along this road to the south-west stands a Monument to El Pípila.

This mine in Guanajuato is the richest in the state. From 1529 to 1810 one fifth of the world's gold and silver came from here.

In the Plaza de la Paz stands the Casa Rul y Valenciana, a Neo-Classical mansion built by Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras at the end of the 18th c. for the Conde de Rul, a wealthy mine-owner. The German naturalist and geographer Alexander von Humboldt stayed here for a short time in 1803.

The Carretera Panorámica leads north to the Iglesia de Cata (Iglesia del Señor de Villaseca) on the Calle Mineral de Cata. Built in the first quarter of the 18th c., this church has a fine Churrigueresque façade.

Also worth seeing are the churches of San Francisco, Guadalupe and Pardo, which has the façade of the old church of San Juan Rayas.

The Calzada de Tepetapa leads past the station, in the direction of Guadalajara, to the Municipal Cemetery (Panteón Municipal), which adjoins a macabre Mummy Museum (Museo de las Monias). Here, in a crypt, mummified bodies of men, women and children, all of them deceased within the last 120 years, are displayed in glass cases, their excellent state of preservation apparently being due to mineral salts contained in the soil of the cemetery.

At the end of Calle de los Pocitos, in the former residence of the Marqués de Rayas, is the Municipal Museum (Museo del Pueblo de Guanajuato), which houses temporary exhibitions including works by the artist José Chavez Morado and other painters as well as collections of folk-art.

On either side of Avenida Juárez will be found a number of picturesque little squares or (plazuelas). Off the Plazuela de los Angeles, to the left, opens the Callejón del Beso (Kissing Lane), so called because it is only 68cm (2ft 3in) wide, allowing a loving couple to kiss from windows on opposite sides. Farther along, on the left, stands the Mercado Hidalgo, a market hall opened in 1910.

This church was designed by Andrés de la Riva and Jorge Archundia. Construction was completed in 1778.