Today we did our final day trip of this three-week adventure and I’m so glad we kept it on the itinerary despite our travel delays getting to San Miguel de Allende (sadly, we had to cancel the full day tour we had planned for earlier this week to Guanajuato city itself, although I certainly want to visit now!).

While San Miguel de Allende gets top billing with tourists for its beautiful Spanish-style architecture, Dolores Hidalgo (located ~30 minutes away) is actually where the Mexican independence movement began, and therefore has a lot of interesting history packed into a relatively small geographical area.

We set off bright and early with our guide, Javier, bouncing along the cobblestone streets. For context, don’t picture flat, easily maneuvered European-style cobblestones. Instead, picture rocks of all shapes and sizes, seemingly haphazardly placed. They’re aesthetically pleasing, but seemingly terrible for car suspensions (and, honestly, for walking!). What started as an innocent question about the cobblestones turned into a multi-point discussion about politics in Mexico – basically, it boils down to the fact that locals (mostly) want them removed and replaced with ‘normal’ roads, American retirees who have money to throw around find them charming and want to keep them, and tourists typically also find them quaint (especially since few tourists seem to actually leave downtown SMA). So, unfortunately given the relationship between money and politics, the cobblestones are here to stay.

Since Atotonilco is just between Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel Allende, we arrived in about 15 minutes. The church itself was built in the mid-1700s, despite being out of the main town even during that time. Apparently, a priest used to visit the area to pray and perform self-flagellation and had a vision that a grand church should be built. So, he began construction of what is now known as Mexico’s “Sistine Chapel” – and for good reason! The church itself is made from stone, adobe, and stucco, and the priest apparently found several (extremely) talented indigenous artisans (interestingly, not yet converted to Christianity) to paint it with incredible murals. Of course, some parts have been restored over the years, but it is still incredible.

The artwork was incredible – lots of photos to follow!

In the LHS mural, the soldiers were originally depicted as Romans – however, in a later restoration they were converted to Spanish soldiers.

I loved the gilt paintings that were added to this chapel.

One interesting feature is that, when the church was designed, they only thought there were 4 continents, and so 4 kings (one for each continent) were depicted on the walls (of course, with largely Spanish / European features).

Overall, just an absolutely stunning piece of architecture.

From there, we made the quick drive over to Dolores Hidalgo. Unlike San Miguel de Allende, it looks extremely similar to most of the other towns we’ve seen throughout Mexico and much of Central America. We actually revisited the cobblestone discussion, and Javier explained the following:

• Mexico, as with all countries, has significant income inequality and, despite some social welfare programs, it is extremely difficult for Mexicans to change socioeconomic status
• This plays out interestingly in San Miguel de Allende vs. Dolores Hidalgo (from his telling) – apparently since SMA is so focused on tourist infrastructure, most jobs for locals are (understandably) in the tourist trade. However, because tourism is so seasonal, it can be difficult for guides, drivers, and restaurant workers to make a consistent salary (very much a gig economy that’s boom or bust). As a result, while San Miguel de Allende attracts tourists and many affluent Mexicans and American / Canadian retirees, it is actually a relatively difficult place for locals to accrue sufficient savings to send their children to college / retire
• However, the residents of Dolores Hidalgo have prioritized trades, with many locals attending the local technical university or university in Guanajuato (the capital of the eponymous state). There isn’t nearly as much tourist infrastructure, but the locals have a higher quality of life, savings, and many of their children are able to “make a future” as it were
• Javier pointed this out in a couple places – for example, the market was bustling with locals enjoying a NYE lunch together and the town square was crowded with locals well; SMA is filled with tourists (including many Mexican tourists) and we experienced quite a bit of crowd control as we were wandering after our tour ended this afternoon

As we approached, we were greeted with a statue of the four heroes of Mexican independence (two of them are, unsurprisingly, Allende and Hidalgo).

Then, while Javier found parking, we wandered the main plaza, which holds the famous Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores. We arrived just in time for the noon bells to be chimed, which are still done by hand in the plaza! This is something I haven’t seen anywhere else (except the church in Bled, Slovenia, where you can pay for the privilege of ringing it yourself!).

Mass was being conducted so out of respect we didn’t venture inside, but apparently there are two beautiful wooden altars in addition to the neoclassical architecture.

Javier explained that the church is actually central to the independence story in Mexico. Hidalgo, a Jesuit priest, had come to what would become Dolores Hidalgo and had quickly gained favor with the local population as he spoke several indigenous languages and knew several trades that he shared to help build the economy. While he gained favor with the locals, behind closed doors, he conspired with peers (including Allende) against the Spanish. As these things always seem to play out, the Spanish ultimately found out about his treason and sent troops to kill him and anyone else suspected of being part of the conspiracy. Of course, someone notified him that the Spanish were coming and, rather than run, he decided to ring the church bells early in the morning of September 16, 1810. The bells summoned the local population, who, as good Catholics, got out of bed and congregated in the church plaza to await their priest’s guidance.

They rallied around Hidalgo, arming themselves with whatever agricultural equipment they could find to fight against the Spanish. Thus began a 10-year campaign towards independence – unfortunately, Hidalgo would be captured within the year and executed shortly after, so he never got to see an independent Mexico. They still have the bell used to summon the locals, which was amazing to see!

From there, we moved to the Museo de la Independencia, where a series of extremely evocative paintings tell the broader history (including what happened once Hidalgo had been executed).

The museum is set in a former jail and begins with Hidalgo freeing indigenous slaves from the Spanish (this region is known for huge silver mines, which the Spanish forcibly mined using indigenous slave labor – if we’d gone to Guanajuato, I would have had the opportunity to visit one of the mines to learn more about this sordid history). The above diorama is largely metaphorical but you can see in the background an artistic rendering of the Spanish conquistadors (tl;dr: they were inhumane, brutal, torturous, and did unspeakably awful things to indigenous people).

The museum actually begins before the colonization of Mexico, showcasing some of the cultural history that began with the Mexica (Aztecs).

I also thought it was interesting to see a depiction of the social classes under Spanish colonial rule – you can see enslaved indigenous people at the bottom, with the Spaniards and the Pope (Javier laughed aloud at this) at the top. On the RHS, you can see an artistic rendering of how much gold and silver the Spanish were able to extract from the silver mines the region.

Each room chronicles the history Javier had verbally explained to us, including how Hidalgo brought a variety of trades to the area and supported the liberation of indigenous slaves from the silver mines and encouraged the poor to band together for independence.

One interesting exhibit showcased what happened to the priest once captured – apparently, as a way of signifying their treason, the Spanish burned their palms so that they couldn’t signify ‘sanctity’ anymore. They also were known to dismember the heads of political prisoners and post them visibly as a warning for others against treason.

One interesting artistic depiction of the 10-year independence movement is seen in the below painting, which represents the poor rising up and defeating the Spanish (the white figure below represents a specific Spanish fort that was defeated). Interestingly, it seems that the vast majority of those fighting for independence were the poor – in fact, over the course of the 10 year fight for freedom, the rebellion never went to Mexico City to try to gain favor with the elites there, but rather headed northward.

Unfortunately since we were pretty low on time before the museum closed for New Year’s Eve, we didn’t have the chance to see the remaining exhibits (or visit the ~2 other museums in town), but I really enjoyed learning a bit about the Mexican independence movement and seeing the building. Since it was used as a jail, the doors are incredibly impressive – you can also see the writing on the door below (Javier was looking for a specific door with writing from the nineteenth century but the museum closed before he found it, this one is from 1939).

For lunch, Javier suggested we visit a stand in the market called “Carnitas Villegas” for his favorite tacos in Dolores Hidalgo and they were the single best carnitas tacos we’ve ever had (so much so, all three of us ended up ordering a second round – and when we went to pay, it was <$10 total for roughly 9 tacos!). Part of the secret is in the salsas, which were abundant. They offered a tomatillo and avocado salsa (refreshing), pico de gallo (nice acid), tomato salsa (a nice fresh, slightly sweet addition), and then a tomatillo serrano salsa (extra spice). One thing they also offered that we hadn’t tried before was an “ensalada” with pickled white onions and habaneros, which really added a kick and some nice texture as well. On our drive, Javier mentioned that his wife runs a taco stand somewhere on the outskirts of San Miguel de Allende (for locals, not tourists) and we really wish we’d gotten the name of it since the man (and I’m sure his wife) clearly knows his tacos. He also got a good chuckle when we told him the story about Mama Mela’s “20 pepper” hot sauce, which was amusing.

The market itself is clearly geared towards locals (a stark contrast from the tourist-oriented one in San Miguel de Allende), with stacks of delicious spices, nuts, beans, peppers, tomatillos, and other produce. I also loved seeing some of the items that are then used by the restaurants, such as the tamale wrappers and the unrefined sugar cones. Similarly, the restaurants were very inviting and they encouraged us to take a look and take photos – a big contrast from San Miguel de Allende where my husband got yelled at (no exaggeration) for taking a photo of some delicious looking rotisserie chickens.

Below you can see the only remaining Spanish home in Dolores Hidalgo – apparently it’s still used to house dignitaries and other government guests when they come to town.

Javier’s second recommendation, which was phenomenal, was to stop at “Helados El More” which is one of many shops located in the main plaza of Dolores Hidalgo. They feature creative flavors, but at this point, he knew we were game to try. We tried quite a few:

• Aguacate – avocado; very creamy and delicious (this is one of my favorites – it reminds me Jus Alpukat, an Indonesian avocado smoothie)
• Elote – another one of my favorites, basically tasted like sweet cream with a few sweet corn kernels for texture
• Guava – always delicious
• Vanilla – it seemed to have figs or some other kind of fruity add-in
• Camarón con pulpo – you won’t believe it, but shrimp with octopus flavor! I tried it and it was actually pretty tasty, basically a gelato version of a Bloody Mary
• La Tóxica / Sangrona – think college-style jungle juice, aka tequila, whiskey, red wine, and god knows what else mixed together (my husband tried this one and described it as “sweet, fruity and questionable” – he continued on to say, “It was fine… the contrast was that the other flavors were actually good?” so… take that as you will)

For what it’s worth, none of the flavors felt especially creamy or overly sugary, so it was a nice refreshing bite.

Overall, a fantastic day trip from San Miguel de Allende and one I’d highly recommend to anyone visiting the region.