Silver city of color — underground tunnels, Callejón del Beso, and Cervantes in October
Guanajuato is a UNESCO-listed colonial city in central Mexico, built on silver-mining wealth and shaped by the impracticality of its own topography — the city sits in a ravine so narrow that traffic runs through an underground tunnel network originally dug as a flood-diversion channel in the 1960s. Multicolored baroque and neoclassical facades in pink, yellow, blue, and terracotta cascade down the hillsides in layers, making it one of the most photogenic cities in Latin America. The Callejón del Beso (Alley of the Kiss), two balconies separated by only 68 centimetres, is the city's most photo…
Silver was discovered in the Guanajuato hills in the 1540s and the city grew to become one of the richest silver-mining centres in the Spanish colonial empire, funding the construction of elaborate baroque churches, mansions, and the grandiose Teatro Juárez (opened 1903). The region became a flashpoint for Mexican independence when Father Miguel Hidalgo launched his revolt from nearby Dolores in September 1810, and his rebel forces captured the Guanajuato granary (Alhóndiga de Granaditas) in a decisive early battle — the building's walls today bear murals by José Chávez Morado commemorating t…