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Yuriria

Walk across extinct volcanoes; discover a convent disguised as a fort; and contemplate a man-made lake that looks like an immense mirror.

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What Makes It Magical

In Guanajuato’s south is a town called Yuriria. Its days revolve around the convent that looks more like a castle, erected by the Augustinians centuries ago. It was them who also built the enormous artificial lake that keeps diseases at bay and that has provided the town with water for hundreds of years. The people fish and travel by boat on it; and sometimes wait for the sunset on another body of water, the Lago Cráter La Joya, that turns red whenever there’s an earthquake

Why You Should Go

Templo y Convento de San Pablo

  • The Augustinians inaugurated it in 1559, and if it resembles a fort it’s because of the constant indigenous uprisings.
  • Temple’s facade has fine plateresque characteristics, its interior was decorated with wooden altarpieces that were destroyed in a fire.
  • Beneath the cupolas with their gothic ribs you will find, on the main altar, the image of Nuestra Señora del Perpetuo Socorro (Our Lady of Perpetual Help).
  • The ex-convent is now a museum where photographs, pieces of sacred art and paintings from the Viceroyalty era are exhibited.

At the Very Least

You must go up to the convent’s terrace to appreciate the view from up there of two hundred-year-old ahuehuetes (Mexican Conifer Trees) and the famous Yuriria Lake

Don’t Miss

  1. In the afternoon, find the wagon selling pan de fruta de horno (baked fruit bread) behind the Ex Convento de San Pablo
  2. Eat chimichangas (deep fried burritos) or enchiladas mineras (tortilla chips with cheese, cream and salsa) in the El Monasterio restaurant.
  3. Try the atole the town is so proud of: chickpea, wheat, tamarind and guava flavors.