Guanajuato, Guanajuato

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Guanajuato is the name of both a state in Mexico and that state's capital city. This article is about the city. For the state of the same name, see state of Guanajuato.

**Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines**^a
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Mexico
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iv, vi
Identification	#482
Region^b	Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1988 12th Session
a Name as officially inscribed on the WH List b As classified officially by UNESCO

The Mexican city of Guanajuato is the capital of the state of the same name. It is located at 21°02′N, 101°28′W, 370 km (230 miles) northwest of Mexico City, at an elevation of 1,996 m (6,550 ft) above sea level. The 2005 census population was 70,798 people in the city. Guanajuato is also the surrounding municipality of which the city is municipal seat. The municipality had a population of 153,364 and an areal extent of 996.74 km² (384.84 sq mi). The city of Guanajuato lies near the western edge of the municipality, which includes numerous smaller outlying communities, the largest of which are Marfil, Yerbabuena, and Santa Teresa. Guanajuato, although it is the state capital, is only the fifth-largest city in the state, behind León, Irapuato, Celaya, and Salamanca. The historic town and adjacent mines are a World Heritage Site.

1 History
2 Attractions
3 Trivia
4 Sister Cities
5 Picture Gallery
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

Guanajuato was founded as a town in 1554 and received the designation as a city in 1741. It is located in one of the richest silver mining areas of Mexico, and is well known for its wealth of fine colonial era Spanish architecture.

The name "Guanajuato" comes from the Tarascan (P'urhépecha) word, "Quanax-juato", which means "place of frogs".

Plaza de la Paz and the Basílica Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato (2004)

The city was originally built over the Guanajuato River, which flowed through tunnels underneath the city. However, after years of raising buildings to accommodate repeated flooding, in the mid-twentieth century, engineers built a dam and redirected the river into underground caverns. The tunnels were lit and paved with cobblestones for automobile traffic, and this underground road network carries the majority of cars driving through the city today. It is one of the most noticeable features of the city.

The city played a major role in the Mexican War of Independence since it is the capital of the State Guanajuato in which Miguel Hidalgo started the independence movement. The Statue of El Pípila and the Alhóndiga de Granaditas still remind of that time.

[edit] Attractions

Hand of Guanajuato Mummy

In the Panteón catacombs to the west of the city is a famous cemetery noted for the natural mummies produced by unknown means. About 1 in 100 bodies buried here experience natural mummification. In the late 1800s the town instituted a "burial tax" for the families of the deceased. When some of the poorest families were unable to pay the tax, their relatives were dug up and placed on public view in a purpose-built museum. The 'Guanajuato Mummy Museum' still adds corpses to this day; two children were added who died in 1984 most recently due to their relatives' failure to pay the $ 20 per 5 year rental fee. The museum holds 111 corpses resting on velvet pillows. Today, it is reported that the proceeds from the museum help fund the city's coffers to a considerable degree.

The city of Guanajuato was the birthplace of artist Diego Rivera, whose house is now a museum.

The city also harbours one of the largest places in Mexico for mathematical research, a public institution dubbed CIMAT.

Each October the city holds the Festival Internacional Cervantino, an international festival of the arts named after Miguel de Cervantes. The festival is a popular draw for young students from across central Mexico, but attracts participants and spectators from around the world.

[edit] Trivia

The film Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) was filmed primarily in the city of Guanajuato. Many of the scenes in the movie feature sights easily recognizable to someone who has visited the city. However, being familiar with Guanajuato and San Miguel is a bit disconcerting as an interior scene may be shot in one city while passing 'outside' leads to a street scene shot in the other.

Some forty years earlier, Louis Malle's film Viva Maria (1965), starring Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau, was filmed in Guanajuato.

The film Demonoid (1981) was filmed partly in Guanajuato and features the Museo de las Momias (Museum of the Mummies) in one sequence.

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Guanajuato (city)

When Miguel Hidalgo, the leader of the Mexican Independence movement, was caught and executed, his head was displayed on one corner of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas. The three other corners also displayed heads of three other revolutionary leaders as a warning to residents of Guanajuato. The Alhóndiga is now a state museum and on each corner of the building there are plaques displaying each man's name in bold letters.

Artists José Chávez Morado and Olga Costa also lived in Guanajuato. Their house is now a museum.

Mercado Hidalgo, the famous market, was once a train station, when the train went through Guanajuato.

The Valenciana silver mine once produced 20% of the world's silver.

[edit] Sister Cities

[edit] Picture Gallery

Panoramic view of Guanajuato, Guanajuato

University of Guanajuato	Basílica Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato	Local Hero, El Pípila	Teatro Juarez
Plaza de la Paz	Panoramic view of downtown from atop the Pípila monument	Underground Street, Guanajuato	Alhóndiga de Granaditas