Guanajuato City is one of the most fascinating places we’ve visited in Mexico so far.
In the mid-16th century, the Spanish established a foothold here owing to the abundant gold and silver deposits in the surrounding hills.
Spectacular churches and mansions sprang up reflecting the city’s immense wealth, quickly making Guanajuato one of the most significant cities of its time.
That in itself would make the city interesting enough to visit, but there’s more.
Three hundred years later, Guanajuato became the location of the first battle in the Mexican War of Independence, and even served as the provisional capital of independent Mexico in the mid 1800s.
But there’s one more historical tidbit that sets Guanajuato apart from any other place we’ve been to—its vast network of water tunnels and the 18th century dam that once fed them, which is the focus of our urban explorations today.
But first, highlights from yesterday’s rainy-day outing to the mall.
Since leaving La Paz in January, we haven’t had easy access to any shopping centers with kid zones—until Guanajuato. With the weather being less than cooperative and the boys craving an outing, Lori thought it might be fun to take them to the mall arcade.
Noe got Monopoly Junior for his birthday a week ago. Apparently that wasn’t enough to feed his and Riley’s craving.
The next morning, we awoke to brilliant sunshine and a smattering of clouds. It felt a bit wrong knowing that we planned to spend a good chunk of that time underground. But we also know as well as anybody how the weather can change on a dime in Guanajuato.
The tunnel entrance closest to the bus station is right on the northeastern edge of Jardin El Cantador.
Noe spotted some sort of gardening expo going on, so we took a walk through the park first to check out it.
After perusing the herb and flower stalls, we made our way to the tunnel entrance.
The plan is simple. Walk into the big, black hole (above)…and hopefully come out on the other end unscathed.
I couldn’t find a reliable map for the underground tunnel system here. Some of the tunnels are marked on my Gaia app, but the entrances aren’t.
There are several miles of tunnels crisscrossing the city from below, but we’re planning to walk the central portion of one of the longest tunnels.
From what we’ve seen above ground, there’s an entrance near Teatro Juarez in the center of town, but we’re hoping to make it a bit farther than that.
Our main objective this morning is to get to Presa de La Olla, by a tunnel bypassing the crowded Centro, then make our way along Paseo de La Presa and its early 20th century Art Nouveau architecture until we reach the dam.
We heard it’s best to walk the tunnels on a Sunday morning, as the fumes can be pretty unpleasant during high traffic times. We’ve also heard you should avoid the tunnels during heavy rains.
Today’s Sunday and no rain in the forecast until tonight, so we should be good…
This first stretch is about 1,000 meters long to the Teatro. We saw a handful of pedestrians and the occasional motorist along the way. I certainly would not want to attempt this during peak hours.
These tunnels look pretty ancient, but most of the system (including this tunnel) is less than a century old.
The Guanajuato River that once flowed through the center of the city had long posed a flood risk to settlers in the valley.
In the 1700s, the Spanish built the dam (Presa de La Olla) in an attempt to prevent large scale flooding of the city.
However this was not as successful as they had hoped, and by the late 1800s, the Mexican government began work on a new project: constructing underground tunnels to divert the river away from the city.
After a devastating flood in 1905, the project was expanded.
In the mid-20th century, the city saw a rapid increase in traffic and the decision was made to expand and update the tunnel system for automobile use. The system as we know it today was only completed in the last few decades.
At this point, it wasn’t clear where we should go. The signage wasn’t much help and I had zero reception down here to get an idea of our location.
One way led immediately to a stairwell to the surface roads near the Teatro, but we still wanted to try to make it a bit farther.
After walking in circles for about twenty minutes, we finally decided we’d given it a good effort and made our way to the surface. We were all pretty hungry and just wanted to get where we were going.
A bit of a bummer, but the sunshine more than made up for our early departure from the tunnels.
Separate ticket windows for “Sun” and “Shade” seats at the ballpark. Choose wisely.
After a much-anticipated breakfast stop, we were ready to carry on. Making our way along Paseo de La Presa now, we reach the first of many unique and eye-catching landmarks: Casa de Las Brujas (House of the Witches).
You can’t go inside, apparently. So, we looked for a moment and continued on.
Next up, Presa 97 Centro Cultural. Built as a private residence in 1909 in the Porfirian Art Nouveau style popular at the time, the building now serves as a community center, art gallery, and artisan market.
Just before reaching the dam, the avenue lanes diverge to accommodate the stately Florencio Antillón Park.
Now under overcast skies and much later than we anticipated, we finally reach Presa de La Olla, the city’s storied 18th-century dam. I’m not sure what I was expecting (a stone wall, perhaps?), but I wasn’t expect something this ornate and interesting.
Behind the dam is the first of two reservoirs. This one is a popular spot for renting a rowboat on the weekends. We thought about doing the same, but by the time we reached the reservoir it was already sprinkling and dark clouds loomed on the horizon. A typical day, lately in Guanajuato.
You may have noticed that the water is looking a bit brown. The next day (Monday), we learned that the first Monday of July (that very day) is the Festival of San Juan, when they open the flood gates to drain out all the muddy water that comes with the first rains of the season.
By the time we learned this, we had no plans to make the trip back into the city, especially after hearing that the city becomes a complete madhouse and traffic grinds to a halt. That would have meant a full-day affair from our perch out in the boonies.
Oh well, we saw the dam, and didn’t have to jostle our way through thousands of dam visitors to do it.
But getting back to the previous day (in which we were completely oblivious to one of the biggest festivals of the year happening here tomorrow)…
We could have stayed at the Presa for much longer than we did. Heck, I would have loved to have made the climb up to that mirador, pictured above (which I also later read isn’t the smartest move in rainy season). But the dark clouds were rolling in and the booms of thunder were getting closer.
Long warm evenings and sunsets? What are those!? Welcome to summer in Central Mexico!
