Sights in Dolores Hidalgo
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A
Statue of Hidalgo
The balding head of the visionary priest Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla is familiar to anyone who's ogled Mexican statues or murals. A genuine rebel idealist, Hidalgo sacrificed his career and risked his life on September 16, 1810 when he launched the independence movement.
Born on May 8, 1753, son of a criollo hacienda manager in Guanajuato, he earned a bachelor's degree and, in 1778, was ordained a priest. He returned to teach at his alma mater in Morelia and eventually became rector. But he was no orthodox cleric: Hidalgo questioned many Catholic traditions, read banned books, gambled, danced and had a mistress.
In 1800 he was brought before the Inquisition. Nothing w…
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B
Museo Casa de Hidalgo
Miguel Hidalgo lived in this house when he was Dolores’ parish priest. It was from here, in the early hours of September 16, 1810, that Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende and Juan de Aldama set off to launch the uprising against colonial rule. The house is now something of a national shrine. One large room is devoted to a collection of memorials to Hidalgo. Other rooms contain replicas of Hidalgo’s furniture and independence-movement documents, including the order for Hidalgo’s excommunication.
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C
Museo de la Independencia Nacional
This museum has few relics but plenty of information on the independence movement. The exhibition spans eight rooms and charts the appalling decline in Nueva España's indigenous population between 1519 (an estimated 25 million) and 1605 (1 million) and identifies 23 indigenous rebellions before 1800 as well as several criollo conspiracies in the years leading up to 1810. There are vivid paintings, quotations and details on the heroic last 10 months of Hidalgo's life.
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D
Casa de Visitas
The Casa de Visitas, on the plaza's west side, was the residence of Don Nicolás Fernández del Rincón and Don Ignacio Díaz de la Cortina, the two representatives of Spanish rule in Dolores. On September 16, 1810, they became the first two prisoners of the independence movement. Today, this is where Mexican presidents and other dignitaries stay when they come to Dolores for ceremonies.
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E
Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Dolores
The Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Dolores, the church where Hidalgo issued the Grito, is on the north side of the Plaza Principal. It has a fine 18th-century Churrigueresque facade. Legends surround his 'cry'; some say that Hidalgo uttered his famous words from the pulpit, others claim that he spoke at the church door to the people gathered outside.
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F
Presidencia Municipal
Adjacent to the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Dolores is the Presidencia Municipal, which has two colorful murals on the theme of independence.
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