Dolores Hidalgo

From its inception in 1634 until the early 1800’s the nearby city of Dolores Hidalgo was a relatively modest village, its inhabitants mainly poor Indians and peasant farmers. However, in 1803, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was installed to head the Parish of Dolores.

By all accounts Father Hidalgo was not much of a cleric—preferring intellectual and business pursuits to those of the church—but he was a great humanitarian with a deep desire to help his parishioners escape from serfdom. To that end, he opened his home to teach them new skills and founded a number of new industries. He raised silkworms and planted vineyards and olive groves and trained local workers to tend them. He established workshops for carpentry, blacksmithing, leather tanning, weaving and pottery. And he became more and more embittered with the rule of the gachupine overlords (Spaniards, born in Spain, who had legal and social priority over those born in Mexico) and more committed to their overthrow.

And so, in the early morning of September 16th, 1810, Dolores was catapulted to prominence and an eternal place in Mexican history when Father Hidalgo gave his impassioned Grito de Dolores (Cry for Freedom). He called on his parishioners to throw off their oppressive rulers and started his rag-tag ‘army’, wielding little more than machetes and home made slings, on the long road to Mexican Independence. In his honor the town was renamed Dolores Hidalgo and is now known throughout Mexico as the “Cradle of National Independence”.

But, even in this Bicentennial year, the title sits lightly: and therein lies a great deal of the town’s charm. Dolores Hidalgo doesn’t put on airs, and seems much the same as other small colonial cities that dot Mexico’s countryside. Life revolves around the charming central square where an imposing monument to Hidalgo rises above the jacarandas and young and old stop to relax on the wrought iron benches. The lovely rose-pink facade Our Lady of Dolores, the site of Hidalgo’s Grito, rises even further to the north.
The town’s other main sights are all within a few easy blocks of the Jardin, standing side-by-side with more pedestrian markets and stores. The three must sees for history buffs are: the Visitor’s House—originally the residence of the Spanish governors of Dolores (who had the distinction of being the first prisoners in the War of Independence) now used as a guest house for visiting dignitaries; the Municipal Museum of Independence—a historical art center filled with vivid murals and artifacts from the historic struggle; and the Casa de Hidalgo—Father Hidalgo’s home from 1804 to 1810 now houses exhibits of furniture and documents from the period. But the narrow streets also award other colonial treasures, such as the Parroquia of the Assumption, Temple of the Third Order or the monument to Pipila in it’s charming little park.

All can be seen in an easy morning ramble, which is a good thing, as Dolores’ other main attraction lies only a few blocks away. The town is known worldwide, for the production of Talavera pottery, the legacy of Father Hidalgo. What he began as a tiny cottage industry has grown to hundreds of small factories and ceramic shops where you can watch the artists at work and pick up some wonderful bargains. The variety of items produced is enormous, and each piece is hand painted and, best of all, affordable.

Finally, one can’t write a story about Dolores Hidalgo without mentioning it’s third claim to fame: ice cream: And not just the standard vanilla, chocolate or pecan. In the central park local vendors compete for customers by offering such exotic flavors as corn, alfalfa, shrimp, tequila and fried pork skin ice cream. Yes, fried pork skin—let me know how it tastes.