San Miguel de Allende is a city and municipality located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City and 97 km from the state capital of Guanajuato
June 7 of 2008: the city received by UNESCO a very special designation as a “world heritage site”. Under the title of: Ciudad fortificada de San Miguel y Santuario de Jesus Nazareno de Atotonilco. The designation was given due the cultural and architectural contribution; culturally, San Miguel was a key place where the independence war against Spanish occurred. Architecturally, San Miguel has contributed with many colonial places and a beautiful baroque parish. Formerly San Miguel was part of the “pueblos mágicos” project, but because of the new UNESCO distinction, the designation change to the actual “world heritage”.
69.811 city inhabitants 160.359 municipal total inhabitants
San Miguel refers to the founder of the city Fray Juan de San Miguel. The name of the town was changed in 1826 to San Miguel de Allende in order to honor Ignacio Allende, who was a independence warrior born here.
The prominence of the city would decline at the beginning of the 19th century, mostly due to the Mexican War of Independence. However, it would play an important early role in this conflict. It is the birthplace of two significant protagonists, Ignacio Allende and Juan Aldama. Both were involved in a conspiracy against the colonial government in Mexico City, along with Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez. After the war.
By 1900, San Miguel was about to turn into a ghost town, but due in 1926 was declare city and historic monument by Mexican government, this never went thru. From that moment on, the development in town went up and they create a restricted law to preserve the historic district, so until this effective date, the law still works to keep the colonial character in town.
During the 50’s, San Miguel happened to became a very known & touristic place, most of all because of the architectural beauty and the natural thermal spring water. After world war II, San Miguel started to revive the touristic appeal that has until today, when American soldiers out of service, found that educational services of US institutions where accredited in San Miguel by “Instituto Allende” (an institution founded in 1950 by Stirling Dickenson). So education was guaranteed for them and their family, which aloud them to stay in town for long periods of time. The city is famous worldwide thanks to the great weather, the thermal hot springs & the architecture. San Miguel de Allende has embraced a large number of foreign residents that join a considerable part of the population.
Despite being less than ten percent of the total municipal population, foreign residents have considerable cultural and economic impact. Most foreign residents are retirees from the United States and Canada attracted here by the mild climate, cultural opportunities and low crime. It is only a ten-hour drive to the U.S. border. Many of the home buyers are from this segment of the population as well. So many Americans are here that there is a joke that the area is becoming less Mexican and more Disneyland . Estimates of foreign residents range from 8,000 to 12,000 with about 7,000 of these from the United States alone. This makes San Miguel one of the largest American communities in Mexico,large enough to warrant its own U.S. consulate to provide services such as notary and passport
San Miguel counts with a large number of catholic churches built, but the most espectacular one is a Parish establish in the heart of the city. The current Parish of San Miguel Arcangel is unique in Mexico and the emblem of the town. Was built with pink cantera, has a Neo-gothic facade with two tall towers that can be seen from most parts of town. It is one of the most photographed churches in Mexico. The church was built in the 17th century with a more conventional facade. However, it was remade in the 80’s by Zeferino Gutierrez, who was a foreman and self-taught architect. Gutierrez's inspiration came from postcards and lithographs of Gothic churches in Europe; however, the interpretation is his own.
