13 Best Sights in San Miguel de Allende and the Heartland, Mexico

Previously, this 18th-century grain-storage facility served as a jail under Emperor Maximilian and as a fortress during the War of Independence, where El Pípila helped the revolutionaries overcome the royalists. The hooks on which the Spanish Royalists hung the severed heads of Father Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, and two other independence leaders still dangle on the exterior of this massive stone structure. It's now a state museum with exhibits on history, archaeology, and crafts.

Painted in a striking marigold yellow, the 18th-century Basílica dominates Plaza de la Paz. Inside is Mexico's oldest Christian statue: a bejeweled 8th-century Virgin. The venerated figure was a gift from King Philip II of Spain in 1557. On the Friday preceding Good Friday, miners, accompanied by floats and mariachi bands, parade to the lovely baroque temple to pay homage to the Lady of Guanajuato.

A Valenciana mine near the church has one entrance at Bocamina de San Ramón, whose inexpensive tour you might call entry-level—you just head down 66 feet, look around, and pop back up.

A half-hour climb or short funicular ride from downtown is this statue of Juan José de los Reyes Martínez, a young miner and hero of the War of Independence of 1810. Nicknamed El Pípila, de los Reyes crept up to the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, where Spanish Royalists were hiding, and set the door ablaze. This enabled Father Hidalgo's army to capture the Spanish troops in this first major military victory for the independence forces. The monument has spectacular city views, as well as a clutch of souvenir and snack stands. Funiculars run daily from 9 to 9 from behind the Juárez Theater and cost MX$36 round-trip.

Guanajuato's central square is a tiny, tree-lined, wedge-shaped plaza bordered by pedestrian walkways. There are musical performances in the plaza's band shell Thursday at 6 pm and Sunday at noon; at other times, groups of musicians break into impromptu song along the shaded tile walkways. Strolling mariachis will perform, too—for a price. This is a great place to sit—on the wrought-iron benches or at an outdoor café—to enjoy the scene and to reconnoiter.

Officially called La Iglesia de San Cayetano—and a 15-minute trek from the city center—this is one of the best-known colonial churches in Mexico. The mid- to late-18th-century pink-stone facade is brilliantly ornate. Inside are three altars, each hand carved in wood and brightly gilded, in different styles: plateresque, churrigueresque, and baroque. There are also religious paintings from the viceregal period.

Both the mine and church are included in guided tours of Guanajuato, and buses (marked "La Valenciana") frequently make the trip from the city center.

It's a 10- or 15-minute walk from Jardín de la Union to see this 1910 structure of pink quarry stone, cast iron, and glass, designed by the one-and-only Gustave Eiffel.

T-shirts and cheap plastic toys fill the balcony stalls, but the lower level is full of fresh produce, hot food, and colorful basketry, as well as peanuts and regional candies (some shaped like mummies).

The birthplace of Diego Rivera contains family portraits, period furniture (late-19th- and early-20th-century pieces re-creating the painter's family home), and finished works and sketches by Mexico's foremost muralist; among them are his studies for the controversial mural commissioned for New York City's Rockefeller Center. Completed in 1933, the mural's portrait of Lenin and overall Communist bent prompted Rivera's benefactors to destroy it immediately after it was displayed. The museum's upper galleries show revolving contemporary art exhibitions, often from other countries.

Mummified human corpses—once buried in the adjacent municipal cemetery—are on display in this unique and fascinating museum at the town's west end. In 1865 the first corpse, that of a French doctor, was removed to make room for new arrivals because the burial fee hadn't been maintained. Because of the mineral properties of the local soil, the cadaver was in astonishingly good condition upon exhumation. Today this and 100 other mummies are displayed: everything from tiny babies to old crones. The museum has been upgraded several times over the years, and despite the macabre subject matter, is artistically presented and well worth a visit. You'll need to catch a cab to get here; it's atop a steep hill.

During his imprisonment in a Spanish concentration camp in the 1930s, Spanish writer and journalist Eulalio Ferrer was so uplifted by Miguel de Cervantes's classic novel that he developed a lifelong passion for Don Quixote. This restored 19th-century home is a museum displaying Ferrer's collection of more than 600 pieces of art, all dedicated to the man of La Mancha. Gathered after he fled Fascist Spain for Mexico, the star-studded collection includes works by Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Jose Luis Cuevas, and Alfredo Zalce. The museum sponsors weekly free and inexpensive events, currently art films on Monday (free) and live music Thursday (MX$50), among other cultural events, usually at 8 pm. A bookshop and café front the museum.

Adorned with bronze lion sculptures and a line of large Greek muses overlooking the Jardín de la Unión from the roof, the theater was inaugurated by Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz in 1903 with a performance of Aïda. It now serves as a venue for works presented at the annual International Cervantes Festival and throughout the year. You can take a brief tour of the art deco interior.

Doing business for more since the late 1970s, this tour operator leads historical tours including San Miguel de Allende and Dolores Hidalgo, shopping tours to Léon, and the more typical half-day tours of Guanajuato, including visits to haciendas and mines.

Founded in 1732, the university was formerly a Jesuit seminary. The original churrigueresque church, La Compañía, still stands next door. The green limestone facade of the university, built in 1955, was designed to blend in with the town's architecture.

Between the university and the church, several art galleries and one small museum associated with the center of higher learning present rotating exhibits of contemporary art.