Guanajuato Revisited Part 13 of 17: The charming little Plazuela del Baratillo and other street scenes

A Florentine-style fountain forms the centerpiece of this small plaza. The official name is Plaza General Manuel Gonzales, who once was Governor of Guanajuato and President of the Republic. However, few people use that name. Instead, it is generally called Plazuela del Baratillo, which means "little plaza of the secondhand goods". This is probably because it has long been used by local street vendors to sell inexpensive vegetables, street food and other items.

In this posting, we will take a look at the Plazuela and check out some of the street scenes Carole and I encountered in its immediate vicinity. This is a continuation of our stroll through the heart of Guanajuato's El Centro (Old Town), which began with the Museo de Alhondigas on the west end, paused last time at the great Templo de la Companía de Jésus, and will continue on to other beautiful and interesting plazas along the way. 

Overview

The Plazuela is centrally located. It is only a couple of blocks east of the Universidad de Guanajuato (upper left) and a couple more north of Jardin Union (triangular green plaza). Both were covered in my previous posts of this series. Our neighbor Vinnie, who recently bought a house in Guanajuato, encouraged us to check out the Plazuela, saying he had particularly enjoyed the street food sold there. They were selling it when we came by, and it looked good, but we weren't hungry at the time. 

Generally, we are a bit leery of Mexican street food, because you can pick up all kinds of nasty intestinal bugs if you aren't careful. However, local Mexicans are usually aware of who is selling clean food and who is not. A good sign that the food is sanitary will be if there is quite a crowd around the stall. Also, the person serving the food should not the same as the person handling the money. Because it passes through so many hands, money is one of the dirtiest objects you will encounter anywhere. 

Plazuela del Baratillo

The Plazuela is surrounded by former Spanish colonial mansions. The ground floors are now small shops and stores selling a wide variety of items, while the upper floors are generally apartments. Some of the local food vendors are gathered under the tree on the right. Various callejones (alleyways) and andadores (walking streets) branch off from the Plazuela, making it a great place to just wander around and see what sort of interesting objects and scenes you can find.

Four fantastic bronze fish support the bowl of the fountain. They reminded me a bit of the one at the Wolf and Fish fountain just below the Templo de la Companía de Jesus. Possibly, they were created by the same sculptor. Originally the fountain was located at the Plaza de la Paz (see Part 6 of this series). However, in 1893, this fountain was replaced by the statue now at Plaza de la Paz and the Florentine fountain ended up here. It was a good trade, in my opinion.

A "deceased" miner's mummy stands in his coffin. We found this just outside the entrance of a small store. Nothing in the store particularly related to the miner and his coffin. This is just another example of the quirky Mexican sense of humor. Guanajuato is famous for its bizarre collection of the local mummies of people who died here long ago.

However, Guanajuato's long history of mining did lead to many untimely deaths among the workers. Over the course of centuries, mineshaft collapses, fire, poison gases, and lung disease from mine dust claimed the lives of many of those who went down into the darkness every day. (For a look at how the mines operated and the daily life of the mine workers, see Part 7 of this series.)

Stairway into another world. Near the entrance to the Plazuela is a set of steps leading down into Guanajuato's underworld. The level to which you descend used to be the level of the arroyo (stream bed) along which the city was originally built. Now it is a network of streets running under El Centro, with the city built on top. 

What happened was that in 1780, a great flood roared down the arroyo, swamping and destroying much of the original town. To avoid future disasters, the city fathers raised the level of the town 6m (18ft) and rebuilt it over the arroyo. (See Part 2 for the story of this catastrophe.) You can find entrances like this all over El Centro, some for pedestrians, some for vehicles.

Don Quixote, in full armor, stands proudly outside another store. You find statues of this figure, large and small, all over Guanajuato. Another thing for which the town also famous is its Festival Cervantino celebrating the works of Miguel Cevantes, 17th century author of the book Don Quixote. (For the origins of the Festival Cervantino, see Part 11 of this series.)

Street market on Calle de Sopena. This is another of the many andadores in El Centro, which makes the area great for walking. By Mexican custom, just about any area open to pedestrian traffic is fair game for street vendors. It can often be crowded, but it is usually fun and always interesting.

Restaurant under a large tree in yet another plazuela. We were finally hungry and the day was warm, so we decided that a meal under the shade of this tree was just the ticket. Alas, it was not to be. What we didn't understand that was this is actually two restaurants. We sat at the tables on the far side of the tree and waited to be served. And waited...and waited. 

Finally, a waiter from what turned out to be the restaurant on the right of the tree came over and told us that our tables belonged to a place that was closed. Unfortunately, all the tables for his restaurant were filled by then. Famished, we finally moved on to find another place to eat.

Another of Guanajuato's innumerable street musicians. This violinist was probably a music student at the university. He was really quite good as he fiddled his way to making a little spare cash. I believe, in the US, this is called "busking".  I tipped him nicely, as I usually do with street musicians. I love that Mexico often provides a sound track for my life.

This completes Part 13 of my series Guanajuato Revisited. I hope you enjoyed it! If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please don't forget to include your email address so that I may respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim