Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de Rivera y Barrientos, better known as Diego Rivera, was born on December 8, 1886 on Positos Street, one of the streets that draw the impossible map of the city of Guanajuato, a labyrinth of mysterious tunnels, secret passages, alleys and crumbling and wonderful squares that wind their way up high hills. The birthplace of the great Mexican muralist is a multi-colored city, a cubist jumble of houses, baroque churches and palaces in pastel tones. There are no traffic lights or strident signs in this viceregal city that could spoil its title of World Heritage Site, but there is a cultural pulse that attracts students and travelers from all over the world.
The sunny stairs of the Juárez Theater serve as improvised seats for many of them. This beautiful stalls is the main venue of the International Cervantino Festival, the most powerful cultural festival in Latin America. “Every year, for three weeks, more than 40 countries bring the best of their culture to Guanajuato,” explains Gabriel Alcaraz, official guide. “Plays, opera, orchestras, painting, sculpture, architecture, gastronomy and open-air rock concerts turn these streets into a fascinating theatre.”
It will do so again in a few days (from October 11 to 27) when the Cervantino, as it is affectionately called, celebrates its 52nd edition. Its true origin, however, dates back to 1953. It was Professor Enrique Ruelas Espinosa’s fault when he brought the Entremeses cervantinos to the improvised stage in the Plaza de San Roque. The spark of the nobleman from La Mancha has been lit until today. And between the festival and the cultural heritage of the Museo Iconográfico del Quijote (MIQ), with more than a thousand quixotic pieces, Guanajuato had to be, and is, the Cervantine Capital of America.
An underworld of tunnels
The essential route through the viceregal city includes these and other squares where you can have a coffee, a typical dish (such as enchiladas mineras) and stop to contemplate the many street sculptures such as La Giganta, “the Guanajuato dulcinea”, which pays homage, once again, to the writer of the Golden Age. It is a perfect city for walking, although it holds many surprises, among them, the underworld of tunnels that runs beneath its foundations. It was a colossal work carried out after the floods of the 19th century to channel the water that lifted streets, churches, convents… all of Guanajuato, some 20 centimeters.
Although nothing to prove the verticality of this capital like taking the funicular to the monument-viewpoint to Pípila, the heroic character who went to help the insurgent troops of Miguel Hidalgo to win the first battle of the Mexican War of Independence. From above, Guanajuato spreads out in all its splendor. In the high hills that surround it, the first silver mines were found in the mid-16th century, which made the Creoles very rich. “When the German scientist Alexander von Humboldt traveled to Guanajuato in 1799, he estimated that two thirds of all the silver produced in the world came from this city,” explains Alcaraz.
The mining boom led to the construction of a string of baroque temples and neoclassical palaces whose towers we see here and there from the lookout. Then, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guanajuato, a solid silver pedestal holds the Virgin. “No less than 40 kilos of pure silver, a gift from the owners of the mines.” The mining heritage can also be seen in the university, from 1732, which appears on the 1,000 Mexican peso bills and houses the best mining school in the country. Climbing the majestic staircase, with its 86 steps, is a must for tourists.
The famous callejoneadas
As is also participating in the famous callejoneadas, the route of alleys enlivened by the songs and guitar playing of the tunos. During the Cervantino season, they are celebrated every day. And there are several routes, but they all stop at the alley of the kiss. Tradition says that lovers must kiss here on the third step to have 15 years of good fortune, otherwise they will have seven years of bad luck. Another stop in Guanajuato is that street Positos, 47 where Rivera was born, and where his House-Museum stands. Rescued by his daughter Lupita Rivera Marín, the building houses preliminary drawings, watercolors and engravings, but no murals.
Source: elmundo.es
