San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the town lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Querétaro and from the state capital of Guanajuato. The town's name derives from a 16th-century friar, Juan de San Miguel, and a martyr of Mexican Independence, Ignacio Allende, who was born in a house facing the central plaza. San Miguel de Allende was a critical epicenter during the historic Chichimeca War (1540–1590) when the Chichimeca held back the Spanish Empire during the initial phases of European colonization. Today, an old section of the town is part of a proclaimed World Heritage Site, attracting thousands of tourists and new residents from abroad every year.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the town was in danger of becoming a ghost town after an influenza pandemic. Gradually, its Baroque/Neoclassical colonial structures were "discovered" by foreign artists who moved in and began art and cultural institutes such as the Instituto Allende and the Escuela de Bellas Artes. This gave the town a reputation, attracting artists such as David Alfaro Siqueiros, who taught painting.
This drew foreign art students, especially former US soldiers studying on the G.I. Bill after World War II. Since then, the town has attracted a significant number of foreigners from the US, Canada and Europe, shifting the area's economy from agriculture and industry to commerce that caters to tourists and retired foreign residents.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated the Protective town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco as a World Heritage Site in 2008. The area of designation includes part of the town of San Miguel de Allende and part of the town of Atotonilco, which is about 14 kilometers north. The World Heritage Site is highlighted by a core zone of 43 hectares in San Miguel de Allende's well-preserved historic center, filled with buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries. The other part of the World Heritage Site, the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, has a core zone of .75 hectares surrounded by a buffer zone of about 4.5 hectares.
History.
Founding of the city.
Before the arrival of the Spanish in the early 16th century, San Miguel was an indigenous Chichimeca village called Itzcuinapan. Then a small chapel was built near Itzcuinapan by Miguel Palanca. He decided to dedicate the Spanish town to the Archangel Michael. However, Spanish invasion and attempts to enslave women, men and children to work the silver mines quickly created a hostile environment with the Chichimeca natives. The Chichimecas began defending their ancestral lands against the invasion by Spanish soldiers and colonizers. In 1551, the Guamare people, a Chichimeca group, attacked Spanish military posts and settlements. This overt hostility, along with multiple failed attempts by the Spanish to provide water to their own settlements in the area, caused the original location to be pushed out.
The village was officially re-established in 1555 by Juan de San Miguel's successor, Bernardo Cossin, and indigenous leader Fernando de Tapia. It was refounded both as a mission and as a military outpost. The new site was a mile east of the old one at a place with two fresh water springs (called Batán and Izcuinapan) and with terrain better suited for defense. "The two springs supplied all of the town's water until the 1970s", Palanca said.
Colonial period.
By the mid-16th century, silver had been discovered in Guanajuato and Zacatecas and a major road between this area and Mexico City passed through San Miguel. Indigenous attacks on caravans continued and San Miguel became an important military and commercial site. This led to the 40-year Chichimeca War. The viceroy in Mexico City granted lands and cattle to a number of Spaniards to motivate them to settle the area. He also gave indigenous groups limited self-rule and excused them from taxation. The location of the town created a melting pot as Spanish, indigenous peoples and later criollos exchanged cultural influences.
Eventually, major roads would connect the town with the mining communities in San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas and the rest of the state of Guanajuato. Serving travelers' needs and providing supplies to mining camps made the town rich. Textile manufacture was a major industry. Locals claim that the serape was invented here. By the mid-18th century, the city was at its height and this was when most of its large mansions, palaces and religious buildings were constructed. Most still remain. The town was also home to the area's wealthy hacienda owners. At the time, it was one of the most important and prosperous settlements in New Spain with a population reaching 30,000. By comparison, in the mid-18th century Boston had a population of only 16,000 and New York 25,000. The town's apogee came during the transition period between Baroque and Neoclassical architecture and many of the mansions and churches show both influences. Mansions built in San Miguel are larger than normal for a settlement of its size.
Independence.
The prominence of the city declined at the beginning of the 19th century, mostly due to the Mexican War of Independence. However, it played an important early role in this conflict. It is the birthplace of two significant figures of the war, Juan Aldama and Ignacio Allende. Both were involved in a conspiracy against the colonial government in Mexico City, along with Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez. When this conspiracy was discovered, the warning to Hidalgo and Allende passed through this town and onto Dolores (Hidalgo), just to the north. This prompted Hidalgo's "Grito de Dolores" assembling the insurgent army on 15 and 16 September 1810. The new insurgent army first came to San Miguel, stopping at a religious sanctuary in Atotonilco just outside. Hidalgo took a standard bearing an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe from here; this standard is now in the Museo del Ejercito in Spain. Then the army entered San Miguel proper to name officers and to free prisoners in the local jail. San Miguel was the first Mexican town to gain its independence from Spain.
While there was no further military action in the immediate area, economically the town waned as agriculture suffered and the population declined. This continued for most of the rest of the 19th century as the country was torn between Liberal and Conservative factions vying for power. After the war, the town was declared a city by the state congress in 1826 and its name was modified to San Miguel de Allende in honor of Ignacio Allende.
There was some economic recovery near the end of the 19th century during the rule of Porfirio Díaz. During this time, dams, aqueducts and railroads were built. Agriculture made a comeback with the introduction of fruit orchards. However, decline returned with the end of mining in almost all of the state of Guanajuato. Between this and the beginning of the Mexican Revolution, San Miguel almost became a ghost town. What remained was preserved after the new Mexican government, under the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), declared San Miguel a "Historic and Protected Town" in 1926, establishing guidelines and restrictions aimed at keeping its colonial appearance. Historian Lisa Pinley Covert denies that such an event occurred in 1926, yet acknowledges that a federal law of 1926 nationalized many Catholic properties in the city, even if historic preservation had not been the motivation.
20th century to the present.
American artist and writer Stirling Dickinson arrived in 1937 and should be credited with creating the first wave of advertising abroad about San Miguel's virtues. Dickinson met Peruvian intellectual, author and painter Felipe Cossio del Pomar, who had the idea of establishing an art colony in the heart of Mexico. The first art school was established in 1938 in an old convent—still in use provisionally as a school, after having been soldiers' barracks—which Cossio del Pomar secured from then Mexican president Lázaro Cárdenas. The school was called Escuela de Bellas Artes and continues to exist today, known locally as Bellas Artes or Centro Cultural El Nigromante. In the 1940s, Dickinson also assisted Cossio del Pomar and Enrique Fernández Martinez, the former governor of the state of Guanajuato, to establish what became the Instituto Allende. Despite their rural location, both schools found success after World War II. US veterans studying under the G.I. Bill were permitted to study abroad and these schools took advantage of that to attract former soldiers as students. Enrollment at the schools rose and this began the town's cultural reputation. This attracted more artists and writers, including José Chávez Morado and David Alfaro Siqueiros, who taught painting at the Escuela de Bellas Artes. This, in turn, spurred the opening of hotels, shops and restaurants to cater to the new visitors and residents. Many of the American veterans who came to study in San Miguel returned later to retire, some marrying and raising international families such as the Vidargas, Andre, Maxwell and Breck families.
The town's cultural, foreign and cosmopolitan nature has continued since that time. The city took on a bohemian quality starting in the 1950s with the party ambience of many resident immigrants and artists. In the 1960s, Cantinflas promoted the area among his friends in the film industry. Hippies were taken in for haircuts by the authorities in the 1970s and now the town is generally too expensive for the backpacking travelers of the 21st century. The growing attraction of the town and its colonial buildings has created a vibrant real estate market, which until recently was not affected by Mexico's fluctuating economy. Many of the old "ruins" of colonial houses have been sold for more than a house in Mexico City.
The city and nearby sanctuary at MAtotonilco were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in July 2008. It was chosen both for its well-preserved Baroque colonial architecture and layout and for its historic role in the Mexican War of Independence. The area that has been inscribed includes 64 blocks of the historic center and the sanctuary of Atotonilco with the title "Villa Protectora de San Miguel el Grande y el Santuario de Jesus Nazareno de Atotonilco".
Demographics.
Despite being less than 5% of the total municipal population, foreign residents have considerable cultural and economic impact. Most foreign residents are retirees from the United States, Canada, and Europe attracted by the mild climate, cultural opportunities, and low crime. It is only a ten-hour drive from the U.S. border. Many of the home buyers are from this segment of the population as well. Estimates of foreign residents range from 20,000 to 25,000, with at least half of these from the United States. The large foreign presence has established a number of institutions here, most notably the Biblioteca Pública in the former convent of Santa Ana, which has the second-largest English-language book collection in Mexico and serves as a community center for foreigners. There is also a chapter of the Lion's Club (est. 1987). A post of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars is located there, as well as Mexico's only Audubon Society chapter.
While the town and municipality have grown since the coming of foreigners in the 1940s, the highest rates of growth occurred between 1980 and 2000, rising from 77,624 to 110,692, or about 43%. However, since that time growth has slowed and as of the 2005 census, the population stood at 139,297. Most of the drop has been due to the fall in birthrates. The overall population of the municipality is young: about 40% is under the age of 15, with those between 15 and 64 making up about 54% of the population. While the majority of the population of the municipality of Allende lives in a collection of small rural communities that do not exceed 2,500 people, the largest single population center is the town of San Miguel de Allende, which houses 59,691 people, about 44% of the municipality's population. The next three largest towns each have populations smaller than 3,000 people: Los Rodríguez (2,768), Colonia San Luis Rey (1,850), and Corral de Piedras de Arriba (1,701).
These smaller communities are populated by the municipality's indigenous groups, mostly Otomi and Nahuas. The Otomi are the largest group, accounting for just under 38% of the municipal population. The Nahuas follow at about 20%. Other groups include