Mexico's Leather City — the shoe and handbag capital of Latin America, set in the Bajío heartland
León is the largest city in Guanajuato state and the leather goods capital of Latin America — a city where entire city blocks are devoted to artisan workshops producing the cowboy boots, huaraches, bags, and belts that supply much of Mexico. The POLIFORUM León is one of Mexico's largest convention centers and a symbol of the city's commercial confidence. Guanajuato city, one of the most beautiful colonial cities in the world, is 45 minutes east. León's taquerías serve birria de res and carnitas in the tradition of the Bajío region.
Founded in 1576 as Villa de León, the city was established to protect the silver route from raids during the Chichimec War — a brutal 50-year conflict between Spanish colonizers and the unconquered Chichimec peoples of the Gran Chichimeca. León grew into a prosperous commercial center on the Camino Real, developing leather-working traditions that accelerated after the introduction of ranching culture brought hides in abundance. The city was briefly held by insurgent forces during the Mexican War of Independence and later became a significant site in the Cristero War of 1926–29, when Catholic…