Guanajuato

Guanajuato is a word meaning "frogs and rain" from an ancient dialect.   It is a city with 27 downtown tunnels and has narrow streets and many flights of stairs.  It has a large indoor market and their local cathedral.  Please don't come here to retire.

The name of our hotel was Socavon Hotel and we learned "socavon" means the "entrance to a mine."  Nothing with a modern look can be built within 2 kilometers of the city.

Besides being known for its mines, in the history of Mexico, the first war for Mexican's independence was fought here.  The Spanish forces in Guanajuato took refuge and defended themselves and millions of pesos of silver in the city's  granery that covered an entire city block and had few windows.  When the insurgents were unable to penetrate the granary there was a stalemate until one miner named Jose de los Reyes Martinez, tied a slab of rock on his back for protection and crawled to the granery's front wooden gate.  He carried a flask of tar and a torch and burned a hole in the gate so the insurgents could take the building.  This man is better known as "Pipila" and there is a statue in his honor that overlooks Guanajuato.  

We went on a local tour in a van and  were interested to enter a real mine that has been given to the School of Miners here for students to learn of mining.  People from around the world come here to learn about mining.  

our guide