Rosie and The Operator are driving forty minutes out of San Miguel de Allende to visit the town of Dolores Hidalgo. This town has acquired pilgrimage status for Mexicans as it was here that the Mexican Independence Movement was born in the early 1800s.
The road to Dolores Hidalgo is open and wide, roadside ‘vintage’ and ‘antique’ stores line the road housed in old ramshackle buildings or falling down churches. Most of the wares for sale are on the roadside and include giant agave millstones, signage from the 50s, perfectly rusted and weather aged wagons – train and horse drawn, which lie among the cactus bushes and rusting hulks of ancient trucks.
Looky, looky, looky as we drive into town……
The town of Dolores Hidalgo has a compact town center and is a real pretty place for one with such an important history. Lets start in the town square and the history lesson for today kind of spills out from there.
Meet Father Miguel Hidalgo, no orthodox catholic priest by any means. He questioned Catholic traditions, read banned books, gambled, danced and even had a mistress. In 1804 he was banished for his improprieties to this small hick town of Dolores…in the middle of nowhere. This is his statue that stands in the middle of the Plaza Principle.
Hidalgo thrived in Dolores, he took a real interest in the economic and cultural welfare of the people and helped establish new industries in the area for the people to work in, all in defiance of the Spanish colonial authorities who ruled with an iron fist and kept the local peoples as slaves, working for them, not having their own business.
Hidalgo met like minded Ignacio Allende from San Miguel, they were both ‘criollo’, Mexican born from Spanish parents who shared a discontent with the Spanish stranglehold over Mexico.
At 5am on September the 16th 1810 Miguel Hidalgo, the parish priest rang the church bells to summon the people of the town to church earlier than usual and issued the Grito de Dolores (also known as the Grito de Independencia) from the pulpit.
His exact words have been lost in history…but the essence was, ‘Death to bad governemnt and the Gauchupines’ which is a derisive term for the Spanish overlords who ruled Mexico.
Hidalgo was promptly excommunicated but defended his call for Mexican Independence and with Allende by his side on October 19 dictated his first edict calling for the abolishment of slavery in Mexico. They traveled around the region gaining support and a huge army of rebel fighters. To be honest, they didn’t get very far. Hidalgo and Allende were captured by the Spanish in 1811 and shot by firing squad. There heads were returned to the capitol of the state, Guanajuato and hung in cages from the town hall for the next 10 years as a lesson to future rebel movements. Rather than intimidating the people, this display kept the memory, the goal and the example of the heroic martyrs fresh in everyone’s mind.
The Mexicans finally got their wish when the Spanish were defeated by Napoleon (that little bugger got around didnt he?) and his French army in 1821, finally giving the Indigenous Mexicans Independence. But, the stirrings started here, and this is where it is remembered…..
We just had to go to Hidalgos house, why wouldnt you? After a story like that you have to see the bed he slept in, look out the windows he did to see if the coast was clear as his co conspirators crept in to plan the revolution. Here is the kitchen he would have prepared a midnight snack in. And the well, you cant forget the well where he drank from.
Today Hidalgo is one of Mexico’s most revered heroes. Dolores was renamed in his honor in 1824. Mexicans swarm here on September 16 which is Mexican Independence day. Every town we have visited has a statue of this man somewhere prominent and either a main street or a square named in his honor as well. Nice to see where it all started.
This town was bursting with school children on the pilgramage trail too….we havent noticed that anywhere else. The town itself is beautifully tidey and main plaza shadey and reflective with the statue looming over you….and the church behind.
We were also told that this town is famed for its hand made ice cream and weird flavors. A stall holder had just set up in the town square and some of the weirder flavors on his banner are kind of just gagworthy. Cooked Corn, Shrimp, Cheese, Beer, Red Wine, Octopus and Mole….a Mexican National Sauce that goes over meat and rice…..Rosie had a Pina Colada and The Operator had a Tequila…it was meh. Not going back to try any others.
Dolores Hidalgo is also famed in this area for its colorfully decorated pottery, one of the enterprises Father Hidalgo at the time helped instigate. Industry is still booming and going strong and this style of pot is renowned Mexico wide…..the transport of the undecorated pots…..hhmmmm….drew a laugh from Rosie and The Operator.
I really dont think they could get an extra pot on board. We hope they werent driving to far, in the guys defence he was crawling along at 5kms an hour.
The tiny hamlet of Atotonilco is 3km west of Dolores Hidalgo and is dominated by an important sanctuary in the eyes of the Mexicans. This sanctuary was founded in 1740 as a spiritual retreat and Ignacio Allende was married there in 1802.
Eight years later he returned with Father Hidalgo and a band of independence rebels en route from Dolores to San Miguel to take the shrines banner, the Virgin of Guadalupe, as their Independence flag and make it the symbol of the Revolution. This is Hidalgo holding it below
A journey to Atotonilco is the goal of all penitents and pilgrims from over Mexico on the road to Dolores Hidalgo and the independence trail.
As for the banner of The Virgin of Guadalupe….it hangs on a wall in the museum that was Father Hildagos house in Dolores Hildago.
As for the chapel, wow, just wow. Often described as the Mexican Sistine Chapel, it is just as awe inspiring and neck achingly beautiful as its Italian counterpart.
This chapel is a world heritage site and was created in the 18th century with its murals taking over 30 years to finish. Rosie spent a lot of time here marveling and trying to get good pics with the amount of people that were at your elbows vying for the best shot as well.
That night Rosie and The Operator had a lovely evening in on their terrace and watched a final sunset together over a couple of margaritas.
The next morning The Operator left San Miguel for work, leaving Rosie behind, waving goodbye with a tear in her eye as the car got smaller and smaller in the distance.
