Guanajuato
(Spanish pronunciation: [gwanaˈxwato])
Type: State
Location: State of Guanajuato, located in the Bajío zone of Mexico.
Today, I’m going to introduce the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, my home State. On a later blog, I will go through the Capital of the State. The State of Guanajuato is in the center of the country just 223 miles northwest from Mexico City (the Capital of Mexico) and 170 miles east from Guadalajara (the Capital of the State of Jalisco).
Plazuelas.
The name of Guanajuato is a derivation of the Purepechan name of Quanaxhuato, meaning “hilly place of frogs” or “place of many hills”. The culture of Guanajuato is rich, it is dated since pre-Columbian times. One of the many pre-Hispanic archeological sites that are in Guanajuato is Plazuelas, located in the municipality of Penjamo. The Plazuelas archeological site is thought to be constructed around the 600 – 900 CE, making it one of the oldest archeological sites in Mexico. What makes this place special is that I have visited it before in a school expedition. I remember walking around the rectangular plaza with my classmates. It’s a shocking experience to visit a place like this one. To think that I live in a State that has been inhabited by different civilizations since one-thousand-plus years ago, blows my mind. It is not known with exactitude the civilization who constructed the city of Plazuelas, but it is believed that the Chichimecas inhabited the place during postclassical period. The Chichimecas inhabited the entire Bajío region.
Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Dolores.
Guanajuato is famous for his participation in one of the most crucial moments in the history of Mexico, El Grito de Independencia (Cry of Dolores). On September 16th, 1810, in the municipality of Dolores Hidalgo inside the “Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Dolores” Miguel Hidalgo was notified that his plot against the Spanish government was discovered, so at 2:30 am (approximately) he rang the bells of the church, gathering the habitants of the municipality to call for a war for independence. The exact words of his speech are unknow, but it is believed that he said:
“My children: a new dispensation comes to us today. Will you receive it? Will you free yourselves? Will you recover the lands stolen three hundred years ago from your forefathers by the hated Spaniards? We must act at once… Will you defend your religion and your rights as true patriots? Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe [symbol of the Indians’ faith]! Death to bad government! Death to the Gachupines [the Spaniards]!”.
Painting depicting Miguel Hidalgo rallying the people.
As you can see, Guanajuato has a rich culture and has been instrumental to the history of Mexico. I can only say that I’m proud of being born there! Can you see something funny above? Yes, today is September 16, thus ¡VIVA MÉXICO! Happy Independence Day!
References:
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Meyer, Michael, et al (1979). The Course of Mexican History, page 276, New York, New York US Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-502413-5.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanajuato_City
https://www.cultura.gob.mx/turismocultural/destino_mes/guanajuato/guanajuato.html
https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/viva-mexico-vector-backgorund-114555122.jpg
https://cdn.britannica.com/52/100852-050-17C919B3/Mural-Juan-OGorman-Grito-de-Dolores-Retablo.jpg
I love the pictures you put into the post to show the places off. I like learning new things from different cultures, so I’m glad you are keeping up the posts.
This is so cool! I loved reading about your home state from your perspective and all of the unique facts you add to each of these posts. Also that you were able to post this on Independence day with the story of how the war started is awesome. Mexico has such an amazingly rich culture, and it is really interesting to think about everyone who has lived there and everything that has happened before. I can’t wait to learn more!