Page 18 - Eternal San Miguel de Allende

“San Miguel de Allende is no stranger to booms and busts.”
Founded in 1542, San Miguel el Grande, named after Arcángel San Miguel, was central Mexico’s northernmost Spanish settlement. When Spanish colonizers first arrived, the indigenous Chichimec people put up fierce resistance. A Spanish garrison was put in place to protect
the important new road linking the silver mines of Guanajuato and Zacatecas to Mexico City. Mule caravans laden with silver were a common sight, and many residents became prosperous by catering to the needs of nearby mining camps.
Combined with a thriving textile industry and Spanish ranching, San Miguel el Grande became a boomtown in the mid-1700’s with a vibrant commercial center. A great number of the grand casonas (mansions) and churches were built at this time in an ornate Baroque Spanish Colonial/ Neoclassical style that reflected the tastes of the town’s newly-rich silver barons. San Miguel el Grande grew even larger than Boston and New York in the American colonies.
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