Attractions
Juarez Theater of Guanajuato
Address: Teatro Juárez, De Sopena, Zona Centro, Guanajuato, Mexico .The Juárez Theater is one of the most beautiful venues of its kind in the country. Its construction began in 1873 under the auspices of General Florencio Antillón on the land originally occupied by the old convent of San Diego de Alcalá, demolished in 1861 as a result of the Reform Laws that among other things promoted the confiscation ecclesiastical property.
The terrible aggression that the city suffered with the loss of the original Dieguino convent was aggravated with the unfortunate foundation of the Emporio hotel, and years later, partially redeemed when it was decided that a new theater would be built in the devastated place, which would eventually be it would become the pride of all Guanajuato.
Despite the fact that the theater was built as a significant architectural intrusion in the urban fabric of the population, the success of its design allowed to scrupulously resolve the relationship of its scale and proportion with the rest of the neighboring buildings, integrating a harmonious architectural context, notwithstanding the difference in language between the baroque extravagances of the San Diego de Alcalá temple in apparent antagonism to the serene classicist monumentality that the Juárez Theater boasts in its splendid portico, as well as in the eclectic solutions of its complementary spaces.
El Pípila
Address: El Pípila, Zona Centro, Guanajuato, Mexico .El Pípila (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpipila]) is the nickname of a local hero of the city of Guanajuato in Mexico. His real name was Juan José de los Reyes Martínez Amaro (1782–1863), son of Pedro Martínez and María Rufina Amaro. He married a woman named Maria Victoriana Bretadillo and had three children, Manuela, Doroteo and Francisca. Word for a hen turkey, it is said his nickname stands for his freckled face (similar to that of a turkey egg) or his laughter resembling the bird's peculiar gargle.
Pípila was a miner. He came from the nearby town of San Miguel, now San Miguel de Allende, and worked in the Mellado mine. (The Rayas and Mellado mines were the first in Guanajuato, opened in 1558). Miners are of great importance in the state and city of Guanajuato, which was the largest exporter of silver in the world at the end of the 18th century. Silver and other minerals are still mined there today.
Pípila, became famous for an act of heroism near the very beginning of the Mexican War of Independence, on 28 September 1810. The insurrection had begun in the nearby town of Dolores, led by Miguel Hidalgo, a criollo priest born in Pénjamo. He soon moved to the city of Guanajuato, Guanajuato, where the Spanish barricaded themselves–along with plenty of silver and other riches–in a grain warehouse known as the Alhóndiga de Granaditas. The granary was a stone fortress with high stone walls, but its wooden door proved to be a shortcoming.
