San Miguel de Allende Sept 2016

San Miguel de Allende

In September 2016 I spent 10 days in San Miguel de Allende, a beautiful little town in the mountains of central Mexico, about 4 hours from Mexico City.  SMdeA had been on my bucket list of places to visit for some time.  So when my friend Barbara said she’d be there in September, it felt like an ideal time to go!

What an interesting place!  Founded in 1542, it was an important part of the “silver route” from surrounding mining towns to Mexico City for 300 hundred years.  From 1810 to 1821, it was at the centre of the war of independence from Spain which had ruled Mexico in sometimes brutal ways.  In fact, its present name comes from General Ignacio Allende and Miguel de Hidalgo, central figures in the war. 

After the war, the town almost became a ghost town.  But in the 20^th century, it was discovered for its Baroque/Neoclassical colonial structures, foreign artists established art schools there, and this attracted foreign art students, especially former U.S. soldiers studying on the G.I. Bill after the Second World War. Now, the town is popular with foreign retirees, artists, writers and tourists.

Interestingly, I was there on September 15^th, the day in 1810 that Mexico’s war of independence from Spain was declared.  There were celebrations and parades and fire works the whole week! 

Photos

1)One of the many pretty narrow streets in SMdeA

2) A thermal bath we visited

3) The church that was modeled off the Church Gaudi built in Barcelona
4) An amazing restaurant in the middle of nowwhere!