| 1843 print GUANAJUATO, MEXICO, #34 |
Print from steel engraving titled Guanaxuato, published in a volume of L'Univers, Histoire et description de tous les peuples, Paris, approx. page size 20.5 x 12.5 cm, approx. image size 14 x 9 cm.
Guanajuato
city, capital of Guanajuato state, central Mexico; it is spread over steep hillsides at the junction of three ravines, 6,726 ft (2,050 m) above sea level.
Guanajuato, an outstanding example of the Spanish colonial city, was founded in 1554 and was given city status in 1741. Along with Zacatecas, to the north, and Potosí, Bolivia, the town became one of the three greatest silver-mining centres of the 16th century. Its celebrated Veta Madre (Mother Lode) was described as the richest in the world. The fabulous wealth was most manifest in the elaborate and richly endowed churches, notably La Valenciana, San Francisco (1671), and San Diego (1663).
Guanajuato was the first major city to fall to the independence leader Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in 1810. The plundering and destruction that accompanied the overrunning of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas (a granary used as a fortress) were followed by struggles for control of the city; by 1822, flooding and the exodus of many wealthy families had resulted in greatly reduced output from the mines. Guanajuato entered a period of decline that continued until the 1930s, when increased tourist trade and federal support of mining and agriculture in the state resulted in slow but steady recovery. The University of Guanajuato was established there in 1945. The city is accessible by highway, railroad, and air. Pop. (1980) 48,000.