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Attractions: San Miguel Tourism Office
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Plaza Prinicipal and El Jardin
On the side away from the church, there is a tourist information booth that is sometimes staffed with a bilingual guide. There are free catalogs and flyers telling you about up coming events of all kinds from guitar festival to hang gliding competitions to a bullfight that afternoon. There is also a more expanded office located directly across the street next to San Franciscio cafe. It has Tourismo carved into the stone above the office. If you are in need of an English speaker to answer a question about an upcoming event this would be the place to ask. Also full of catalogues, posters, and flyers of events in San Miguel de Allende and nearby cities.
Telephone: +52 415 152 0001
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Attractions: Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe
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This is an almost true story. An American professor is describing his atheism to a Mexican who is attempting to understand his faith. Suddenly there is a gleam of understanding in the eyes of the senora. "We know that you do not believe in Jesus," she said with a look of sympathy, "but surely you must believe in the Virgin of Guadalupe!" This experience expresses a spiritual reality at the heart of the Mexican people: the Virgin of Guadalupe is the source of their faith, and life without her is inconceivable. Her image is more iconic than the Mexican flag, or in contemporary times, the images of Frida Kahlo. The Virgin is the Mother of the Mexican people, the Empress of the Americas, the Reina de Mexico---and all of Mexico stands in homage to her, her magnitude unmatched by any saint or even by Jesus Christ in the reverence and love which she evokes. Macho men bow at her feet and weep before her. One finds her omnipresent image in spaces both public and private: on household shrines, on walls of professional offices, in the bolsa of the campesino and the wallet of the President.
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Attractions: Copper Canyon
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Copper Canyon is a canyon system in the Sierra Tarahumara in the southwestern part of the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. This canyon system is larger and deeper than the Grand Canyon in the neighbouring United States, although the Grand Canyon is larger overall than any of the individual canyons of the Copper Canyon system.
The system is transversed by the Chihuahua al Pacífico railroad, known by the nickname "Chepe." It is both an important transportation system for locals and a draw for tourists.
There are actually six separate canyons in the Copper Canyon system, each of which is spectacular in its own right. Mexico established the Copper Canyon National Park to showcase this remote but beautiful area.
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Attractions: Xochimilco - Mexico City
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About 20km south of downtown Mexico City lies Xochimilco which means 'Place where Flowers Grow' in Nahuatl. It is known for its canals, which remain one of Mexico's favorite destinations for recreation and relaxation. After boarding one of the colorful punts steered by a man with a pole, you'll find yourself cruising the canals with parties of merrymakers and tourists. It's especially more fun to go on weekends as the fiestas atmosphere takes over and the whole district comes alive with the crowd.
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Attractions: Plaza de Toros
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If you enjoy bullfights, San Miguel has its Plaza de Toros Oriente. It is a simple country corrida where small boys fill the ring before the event begins, practicing their Veronicas and Maonoletes moves with homemade capes in imitation of famous matadors. Then comes the desfile de matadores, when brave, brilliantly costumed men who soon will face death in the afternoon march into the arena and pay their respects to the authorities.
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Attractions: Nuestro Señor de la Columna
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In 1823, San Miguel merchant Cayetano Vargas commissioned parish priest of Atotonilco to sculpt a statue of Señor de la Columna in order to ask for a miracle. According to Félix Luna, Father Remigio was the very priest who handed the Virgin of Guadalupe’s banner to Miguel Hidalgo in 1910, at the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence.
Nuestro Señor de la Columna is a statue made of polychrome wood representing the flagellated Christ resting his arms on a small column. His cheek bears the scar of Judas’s kiss, His body is covered with blood and His ribs are exposed from flogging. Standing 1.80 meters high the statue weighs about 40 kilograms.
The figure stands on its left foot, with the right leg slightly bent. His eyes have a strange and tragic shine. Dressed only in a purple velvet loincloth, the figure is tied to the column by a purple rope hanging from its neck.
The column to which Christ is bound is said to be the link between heaven and earth.
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Attractions: San Miguel Arcángel
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Saint Michael the Archangel is the patron saint of the town founded by the Franciscan monk Fray Juan de San Miguel in 1542. The Catholic church considers the Archangel Michael the leader of the forces of heaven in their triumph over the powers of hell. He has been especially honored and invoked as patron and protector of several towns and churches around the world.
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Attractions: La Luciernaga (the firefly)
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Before leaving his post to run for a senate seat, one of Mayor Luis Alberto Villarreal's last official acts was to place the first stone for San Miguel's latest development-La Luciérnaga (the firefly) shopping mall. The multimillion-dollar shopping center is a joint investment of the Century 21 real estate firm and the Gigante Commercial Group.
The mall is an ambitious commercial project that will cater to the needs of San Miguel's growing consumer population. "La Luciérnaga is a commercial space for service, entertainment, art and culture for San Miguel's community, concentrated in one location, that will make the city's commercial offerings more complete." "The mall's purpose is not to compete with San Miguel's downtown business, but to supply the population's necessities."
The development, to be constructed on 5.5 hectares, will bring several national chains to San Miguel and offer shopping and entertainment on a large scale. The first stage, scheduled for completion in December 2006, includes a Super G supermarket with a gourmet delicatessen, seven cinemas with seating for more than 1,600 and parking for more than 600 vehicles. The second stage, slated for construction in 2007, will expand the mall to include a chain restaurant with seating for 600; a theater; 59 commercial outlets, including 11 for gourmet and regional food; and an Office Depot.
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Attractions: Oratorio of San Felipe Neri
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The Oratorio of San Felipe Neri, one block north of San Francisco, is the favorite of San Miguelenses. Originally founded by a mulatto congregation, the late seventeenth century building was expanded by a larger community who seized the church through legal process, or assimilated the founding mulattos, depending on one's interpretation of events. The baroque stone facade, displaying an Indian influence, was added in the eighteenth century.
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Attractions: Stirling Dickinson
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The lovely country mansion of Don Tomás de la Canal, about ten blocks southwest from the jardin, is famous today as the Allende Institute. The prestigious art and language school was founded in 1938 by Stirling Dickinson, the first prominent American to settle permanently in San Miguel. Dickinson's home on a hillside above the town is a gathering place for other resident Americans and tourists alike. He is a world-class authority on orchids and has the largest collection in Mexico. The gardens are open to the public, but inquire locally for opening times. Ask the cab driver for Los Pocitos, The Orchids.
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