San Miguel de Allende was founded in 1542 by a Franciscan missionary from Spain, Fray Juan de San Miguel. His first settlement, among the chichimecas was on the other side of where the railroad tracks are now, in the small pueblo of San Miguel Viejo.

But water was scarce there, and when his dogs found water where the chorro is now, the settlement moved to its current location and was called San Miguel el Grande.

As a mule train stop, when silver and gold were being mined to the north and shipped to Mexico City, San Miguel became a center of commerce for the surrounding area and the city grew quickly. Vast haciendas were established to grow cattle and provide whatever the marketplace called for—machetes and knives, harnesses and stirrups, woven goods, wool and leather.

In the center of San Miguel, huge mansions, beautiful churches and magnificent city buildings were built. It was an era of wealth and splendor, as the mining of gold and silver continued for three centuries.

The centerpiece of El Centro is the Parroqia de San Miguel Archangel, built in 1683 and updated in 1880 by Indian artisan, Zeferino Gutierrez, whose ideas were inspired by a postcard of a French cathedral.

Other churches built by colonial wealth are still in their original states today. They include Las Monjas (with a small store to buy religious items and Mexican wedding cookies made by the nuns), Oratorio de San Felipe Neri, San Francisco (partly paid for by money from bullfights), San Juan de Dios near the old market, La Salud with the oldest bell in town (1735).

Many of the mansions remain as well. The Canal house, now a bank, on the main square; the Umaron home, or “house of dogs,” named because of the dogs carved near the balcony; the House of the Inquisition; the case of Allende, now a museum; and many others. Several, when they were built, were connected by underground tunnels, so the wealthy residents would visit each other clandestinely.

Perhaps the most famous San Miguelenses at the time were a duo who wanted independence for Mexico. In 1810, Juan de Aldama and Ignacio Allende, along with Father Miguel Hidalgo of Dolores played a major role in a revolt, seeking independence from Spain. Despite their famous Cry for Independence and some nominal success, the revolutionaries failed and both Hidalgo and Allende were killed. It wasn’t until 1821 that Mexico achieved independence and Allende and Aldama and Hidalgo declared heroes.

Time seemed to stop when the riches from the north stopped traveling through San Miguel. Nothing new was built, nothing destroyed. San Miguel remained an original, Colonial, Mexican city. San Miguel de Allende has been able to maintain its appearance because it was named a National Historic Monument in 1926. Only recently has the city installed two traffic lights. Neon signs are still forbidden. It still looks much like it did in the 1700s.

San Miguel has attracted artist and writers from around the world. In the 1930s American Stirling Dickinson and others founded the Instituto Allende Art School and David Alfaro Siqueiros started mural painting classes at Belles Artes. They began the influx of foreigners, and after World War II the GI Bill brought hundreds of veterans to school in San Miguel. Today San Miguel is still a center of art and culture. Instituto Allende continues to offer classes in art and language; Belles Artes, classes in music and art.

Today San Miguel is also known for its quality handicrafts—paper Mache, glass, pottery, wool, tin ware--and first rate paintings and sculpture in several galleries. Many well-known artists and authors have made their home in San Miguel.

There are some historic ties connecting the city today to the city of the past. For example, there is always a parade and fireworks to celebrate Allende’s birthday, January 21.

Father Juan’s 1500s church still stands in San Miguel Viejo and is worth the trip to see it. Women still wash their clothes in the chorro. And a part of the underground mule train stop is still in the Hotel Aldea.

Modern buildings are still forbidden, although a new, modern mall, with department store, grocery store, movie theaters and some fast food, even Starbucks, has been built. In contrast, the cobblestone streets are carefully maintained.

The Cry for Independence, or Grito, is repeated from the Allende Museum’s balcony every Independence Day in September, when crowds fill the Jardin waiting to yell “Viva Mexico” and see the most spectacular fireworks of the year.

The influx of people, started by the art schools in the 1930s, continues, with tourism being a major business for San Miguel de Allende. Many of the visitors have returned to establish residency and the expatriate population is around 10,000 now.

Today, San Miguel de Allende includes 50 smaller communities called barrios or colonias. They are the old neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city. The total population of San Miguel and its barrios and colonias is about 120,000. The city has expanded its boundaries to include the smaller communities while other small, generally gated, communities are springing up on the new outskirts of the city.