Just 15 minutes away form San Miguel, on the road to Dolores Hidalgo, this extraordinary spot has been a place of pilgrimage since colonial times. The church was built between 1746 and 1810. The walls and domed ceilings of the church are filled with 18th Century murals depicting the life of Christ. Other murals depict sinners doing their penance. Historical place where the priest Miguel Hidalgo having given the "grito" (shout) for independence in Dolores and rushing with a group of followers toward battle, took up the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe as the insurgency's unifying coat or arms.
Today the Sanctuary of Atotonilco retains its special place in the daily religious life of central Mexico. A compound of buildings surrounding the shrine includes dormitories, dining rooms, and meeting halls for the many religious retreats held there throughout the year.
Atotonilco's population is swelled to nearly ten times that number when retreats are held. Some thirty weeks out of the year as many as 5,000 - 8,000 ardent worshippers converge onto the shrine from all parts of Mexico to participate in a week of religious exercises. The usually deserted, dusty main street of the village is packed with a mass of worshippers browsing among the stalls of vendors selling religious articles and clothing, pottery, and food, filling the sunny plaza with the sounds and smells of fiesta.
The Sanctuary of Atotonilco was built as a site for pilgrims and the shrine is still a destination for many peregrinaciones (religious pilgrimages) during the year. In a tradition that dates from the early 1800's an annual midnight pilgrimage starts from the Sanctuary and covers the 14 kilometers to San Miguel de Allende. The procession of more than 6,000 pilgrims begins at midnight and arrives in San Miguel at the first light of day after a six and a half hour walk. It's a solemn, impressive procession with the people singing and carrying stately brass lanterns on tall standards to light the way through the dark starry night. Bonfires blaze alongside the road and showers of fireworks light up the sky ahead of the procession. The pilgrims walk to accompany la Milagrosa Imagen del Señor de la Columna (the Miraculous Image of The Lord of The Column) from his home in Atotonilco on his annual visit to San Miguel. The statue is highly venerated by the people of the area and numerous miracles are attributed to it. The miracles and the tradition of the pilgrimage began some 175 years ago when an epidemic struck San Miguel de Allende, killing many of its inhabitants. A wealthy merchant of San Miguel, gravely ill, asked that a religious image be brought to him as a comfort in his final hours. The statue was carried from Atotonilco to his home. The dying merchant recovered and the epidemic in San Miguel was broken. The tradition of the visit by the image to San Miguel every year during the Easter season has been steadfastly maintained ever since. Nodding their heads solemnly as the story is retold, local residents are quick to point out that San Miguel has never since suffered another epidemic. Allowing for local variations, the story is reminiscent of others told throughout Mexico where magical, miraculous powers are attributed to all sorts of things, including rocks as well as statues and paintings. Even dolls. You can see the near life-sized statue displayed in a niche on the right-hand side in the main part of the Sanctuary. It is a powerful sculpture of agony and pain depicting Jesus leaning on a column cut and bloodied after being beaten by Roman soldiers, his face a forlorn portrait of suffering. Blood from open wounds covers the back of the statue and streams down its legs.
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