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It is impossible to
choose the quintessential Mexican Colonial town, but San Miguel
de Allende and neighboring Guanajuato are always at the top of this
fascinating list. Both towns are located in the Bajio or Heartland
of Mexico. Their surrounding hills were once laced with veins of
precious metals that produced one third of the 18th-century world's
silver. Elaborate mansions, Churrigueresque Baroque churches, theaters,
plazas, lush gardens - in short, the very best that all that silver
could buy - forged colonial buildings and structures that are today
government declared national monuments. |
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To explore the environs
of San Miguel and Guanajuato is to experience some of Mexico's most
vivid history. In 1810, the spark of Independence, from Spain, ignited
the entire Bajio and spread throughout the country. Native sons
Allende, Hidalgo, Aldama and Jimenez became national heroes. Strolling
the same cobblestone streets, passing the church steps, courtyard
fountains and aging city walls is an adventure of the imagination
as well as the immediate senses. |
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A stay in either town
is nothing short of delightful. Guanajuato, built along a winding
river bed and walled in by dramatic hills, is laden with mazelike
streets that open up to serene plazas only to close again to streets
so narrow lovers could kiss from opposite balconies. Infamous mummies,
a subterranean highway, a magnificent closed-in market - Guanajuato
is full of curiosities. San Miguel de Allende, on the other hand,
is smaller, quieter (except at night!) and completely accessible
by foot. A visitor easily slips into the charm of its daily routines,
which culminate at the El Jardin Plaza each evening - when travelers
and townspeople alike gather and enjoy the numerous small pleasures
of San Miguel. |
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