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As we left San Miguel de Allende we spotted these iron
chickens outside a Pollo Feliz chicken restaurant (a sort of Mexican KFC). |
| Most of our travelling seems to be through countryside
like this now. We are up on the central plain which is mostly between 6000
and 7000ft which has major impact on the vegetation. |  |
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Today we had a short journey to Guanajuato, the next place we wanted to
visit, so we had time in the afternoon to
catch a bus into the city centre from our campsite about 7km to the south.
It is a strange and unique city built in a narrow valley with very steep sides,
all of which are covered in little boxes made of ticky-tacky and all of
different colours. |
| This is NOT a church but is the central market hall
with stalls on two floors. We didn't buy anything though, not even the
strawberries because we had nothing to carry them in. |  |
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We did see some churches including this one which looked very familiar
(the Oratorio de Felipe Neri in San Miguel de Allende). This is the Temple of Belén
which doesn't seem to rate a mention in our guide books but which I found
quite attractive. |
| It follows the now established pattern with a finely
decorated dome which provides light to the centre of the church. |  |
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The altar is less ornate than many but is surrounded by statues. |
| Normally the panels at the entrance are solid wood and
you enter at the sides. In this case there were huge stained glass panels
(4) depicting scenes which all seem to all involve children as would be
natural for a church dedicated to a woman. |  |
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This is the Basílica de Nuestra Senora de Guanajuato. It was built between
1671 and 1696 and is one of the outstanding monuments of the Manieristic
baroque of the 17th century. The clock cube was added a century later. |
| The original baroque altarpieces were lost in the 19th
century and were replaced by others in the neoclassical style. However the
central altarpiece still keeps the baldaquin that sheltered the old image of
our lady of Guanajuato. The virgin is the patron of the city. |  |
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The carved doors are a wonder to behold. |
| We found another old church up by the University
called the Temple of the Company of Jesus. It has lots of external
building work going on. Inside is huge and there are 10 separate altars
including one for St Felipe Neri. |  |
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Behind the main altar is an art gallery because this church owns hundreds
of paintings. We also found a temporary workshop area where some of the statues were
undergoing repair. |
| Most of the paintings are from the late 17th or early
18th century and in an Italian style. But in almost every case the artist
is 'Unknown' - a very prolific person! |  |
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The paintings aren't confined to canvas, many had been painted on the
walls. |
| So we came to the University which was founded in
1732. Its hillside position makes it a very imposing building but also gives
it lots of steps. Given that the city is at 6500ft climbing all those steps
every day would ensure that you keep fit. |  |
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The buildings today are very modern and tower over the rest of the core of
the city. |
| This plaque is on the wall of the Museo del Pueblo
which is now an art museum including a collection of miniatures and
paintings by local artists. It used to be the home of the Marqueses de San
Juan de Rayas who owned the mine of the same name. |  |
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Underneath the university is one of the many tunnels under the city. Traffic
from west to east travels in the tunnels and traffic from east to west
travels above ground. |
| We walked up one of the hillside callejones (alleys -
but mostly consisting of steep steps) and found this small chapel which was the
earliest hospital in the
city (1560-65). |  |
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We also found this wall of graffiti art. Some things are the same the world
over. |
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