A ravine full of coloured houses
Guanajuato
A silver-mining city wedged in a narrow valley, its hillsides stacked with houses of every colour.
Why Guanajuato is guanajuato terracotta
Guanajuato lies in a steep ravine in central Mexico. In the 18th century its mines produced a large share of the world's silver, and the wealth paid for Baroque churches and theatres. There was no room for a grid, so lanes twist and climb, and traffic runs through tunnels that were once a riverbed and mine shafts. Houses cover the slopes on both sides, painted orange, pink, yellow, blue, green and violet, with no two neighbours alike. The basilica on the main square is bright yellow with red trim. The best view is from the monument to El Pípila, a local hero of the war of independence. The city has been a World Heritage Site since 1988.
Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.
Colours tied to Guanajuato
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Guanajuato (city)" on Wikipedia. If you know Guanajuato and we have it wrong, tell us.
More colour cities
All colour cities
🇲🇽 The Yellow CityIzamalA town in Yucatán where the convent, the arcades and nearly every house are painted the same egg-yolk yellow.
🇲🇽 Cochineal red and green stoneOaxacaA city of green stone and painted walls in a region that gave the world a brilliant red dye from insects.
🇲🇽 Ochre walls and a pink churchSan Miguel de AllendeA colonial hill town in central Mexico painted in reds, ochres and yellows, around a pink stone church.
🇲🇽 Walled city of pastel streetsCampecheA fortified port on the Gulf of Mexico with straight streets of low houses in pale, carefully kept colours.
🇲🇽 River port of bold arcadesTlacotalpanA quiet town on the Papaloapan river where every house has a columned porch in a different strong colour.
🇮🇳 City of saffron and lightVaranasiSaffron robes, marigold garlands and oil lamps colour the river steps of one of the oldest living cities.Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Varanasi In: Marcin Białek, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Izamal Mx: Inri, CC0, source
- Oaxaca Mx: Apsu09, CC BY 3.0, source
- San Miguel De Allende Mx: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jiuguangw/, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Campeche Mx: self., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tlacotalpan Mx: panza.rayada, CC BY-SA 3.0, source