Guanajuato is admired not only for being a beautiful colonial city with baroque temples and majestic mansions, but also for its singular urban physiognomy, a tangle of capricious streets, never straight always steep; a scrawl of roads that border ravines or suddenly end in narrow always.

Considered the second colonial city in the country after the City of Mexico, Guanajuato, capital of the homonymous state, is plagued with splendid samples of crossbred architecture, valuable historical precincts that are accessed through a spider web of complex avenues and subterranean streets.

You have to visit the following places in the city:

-Garden of the Union: It is a triangular park surrounded by animated and well attended restaurants and cafés. There are also student music groups that usually "capture" the plaza and the neighbouring streets, in order to perform the best of their art and to cheer bystanders and visitors with their voices.
It is in the centre of the city and its name makes reference to the victory attained by the liberals in 1861, during the War of the Reform. Years later, in 1902, it was renamed as Joaquin Obregon Gonzales Park, in honour of the then governor, but this was not well received by the people who kept calling it Garden of the Union.

-Juarez Theatre: Diverse architectonic styles come together in this superb building, which is considered one of the most beautiful in the country, due precisely to its eclectic character.
Eight columns, sustaining an equal number of Greek statues, stand out in its façade of Doric Roman style. Its interior presents 5 storeys of Moorish style, a French vestibule and a few art nouveau features.
The theatre, which construction started in 1872, was inaugurated on October the 27th of 1903 by President Porfirio Diaz. It is currently one of the main stages in the country, and it can be found nearby the Garden of the Union.

-Temple of San Diego: It is a classical example of Mexican application of the style of Spanish architect Churriguera. Its construction began in 1667; although, due to a series of floods that caused grave destructions in the city, it could only be inaugurated in 1784.
It presents a façade of two bodies and it was initially the Convent of San Pedro. It is located a block away from the Garden of the Union, on the crossing with Sopeña Street.

-Peace Plaza: It is a semi-triangular park surrounded by very elegant buildings. There is a beautiful sculpture by artist Jesus Contreras that has the name of Monument to Peace. It was inaugurated on October the 27th of 1903 by President Porfirio Diaz.
The plaza and its neighbouring areas have been witnesses of relevant historic events, amongst them the proclamation of the city as capital of the republic by President Porfirio Diaz in 1858.

-Basilica of Our Lady of Guanajuato: It is one of the top representations of religious architecture in the city. Its overloaded façade and the profuse ornamentation of its belfries and church towers are excellent samples of baroque style.
The arches provided with rosette windows stand out in its interior, which has the shape of a Latin Cross, while the atrium, elaborated between the XVIII and XIX centuries, presents attractive neoclassical features.
The basilica built between the years 1671 and 1696, houses the image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Guanajuato, which was a gift of King Philip the II of Spain to acknowledge the huge richness provided to the crown by the mines of the region; She is currently the patron of the city. It is situated in the Peace Plaza, unnumbered.

-Temple of the Company of Jesus: it is the largest church in the city and one of the most representative buildings that the Jesuit Order built in Mexico. The works began in the mid XVIII century thanks to the generous donation of a group of local residents.
Its style is that of Spanish architect Churriguera, with a dazzling façade made of pink stones that complements with a flashy dome built in the mid XIX century. Its interior, with three naves and altars of neoclassical style, is rather simple but holds a valuable collection of paintings from the XVIII century and important canvases by Miguel Cabrera.
It is located between Sol Street and the Plaza of the Company.

-Legislative Palace: It is a splendid building from the beginning of the XIX century; with several carvings in green, pink and purple stones standing out in its façade of neoclassical style. Its interior, where its suites of refined woodworks, its lavish drapes and several paintings of important Mexican heroes stand out, shows clear influences of art nouveau.
It was inaugurated by President Porfirio Diaz in October of 1903, becoming the seat of the three powers of the state during the first half of the XX century. Currently it only houses the legislative of Guanajuato and is also known as the Custom-Palace or Consistorial Houses.
It is located in the Peace Plaza, beside the mansion of the Earl of Rul, where the ranch of the marquis of San Clemente once was.

Mansion of the Earls of Rul and Valenciana: It was built in the XVIII century and belonged to the Earl of Rul, one of the proprietors of La Valenciana mine, who commissioned the works to architect Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras.
The building, a notable example of Mexican neoclassical architecture, has two levels and its façade is covered with pink quarry stones. It is currently the seat of the College Tribunal of the Sixteenth Circuit, located in the Peace Plaza.