Ignacio Allende, local hero
The town of San Miguel was founded in 1542 by a Franciscan monk by the name of Juan de San Miguel. The town, originally named San Miguel El Grande, became a thriving trade city because it was on the route from the silver mines in Guanajuato and Zacatecas to the coast where the silver was shipped to Spain. Wealthy Spanish mercantile families built grand mansions in San Miguel including one built by the Allende family.
Ignacio Allende, the son of a wealthy trader, joined the Spanish army in 1802 and eventually became a captain. At that time it was popular for intellectuals to meet in Salon-style gatherings to discuss cultural and political matters and Allende belonged to one of these groups. It turned out that members of this group, also attended by Fr. Manuel Hidalgo, expressed their dissatisfactions with the political leadership of Spain, which led to conspiratorial meetings to plan the country's possible independence from Spain. Although Allende and Hidalgo initiated the independence movement in 1810 and led the Indians and mestizos in several battles against the Spanish army, they were both captured and executed before independence was won in 1817.
Today, Ignacio Allende is recognized as a national hero and the city of his birth was renamed San Miguel de Allende. The city of Dolores is renamed Dolores Hidalgo because it is there in his parish church that Fr. Manuel Hidalgo gave El Grito, the battle cry of the independence movement calling his parishioners to take up arms against the Spanish. Hidalgo is now known as the Father of the Nation of Mexico.
The bicentennial celebration of Mexico's Independence takes place this year as does it's centennial celebration of the Revolution begun in 1910 against the autocratic rule of Porfirio Diaz. Celebratory events are taking place all over Mexico, especially in locations related to these rebellions.
For more about:
Igancio Allende: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacio_Allende
Manuel Hidalgo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo_y_Costilla
Mexican Revolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Revolution
Ignacio Allende is depicted in statues and murals throughout San Miguel. He is always depicted in his Spanish captian's attire and is often shown on horseback.
On the horse is Allende while Hidalgo is reading El Grito from the pulpit.
Ignacio Allende, the son of a wealthy trader, joined the Spanish army in 1802 and eventually became a captain. At that time it was popular for intellectuals to meet in Salon-style gatherings to discuss cultural and political matters and Allende belonged to one of these groups. It turned out that members of this group, also attended by Fr. Manuel Hidalgo, expressed their dissatisfactions with the political leadership of Spain, which led to conspiratorial meetings to plan the country's possible independence from Spain. Although Allende and Hidalgo initiated the independence movement in 1810 and led the Indians and mestizos in several battles against the Spanish army, they were both captured and executed before independence was won in 1817.
Today, Ignacio Allende is recognized as a national hero and the city of his birth was renamed San Miguel de Allende. The city of Dolores is renamed Dolores Hidalgo because it is there in his parish church that Fr. Manuel Hidalgo gave El Grito, the battle cry of the independence movement calling his parishioners to take up arms against the Spanish. Hidalgo is now known as the Father of the Nation of Mexico.
The bicentennial celebration of Mexico's Independence takes place this year as does it's centennial celebration of the Revolution begun in 1910 against the autocratic rule of Porfirio Diaz. Celebratory events are taking place all over Mexico, especially in locations related to these rebellions.
For more about:
Igancio Allende: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignacio_Allende
Manuel Hidalgo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo_y_Costilla
Mexican Revolution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Revolution
Ignacio Allende is depicted in statues and murals throughout San Miguel. He is always depicted in his Spanish captian's attire and is often shown on horseback.
On the horse is Allende while Hidalgo is reading El Grito from the pulpit.
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