REAL DE MINAS

Gallery

Historic Downtown León, Gto.

DETAILS OF THE WORK AND THE ARTIST:

On September 15, 1810, in Dolores Hidalgo, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla called upon the people to rise against the Spanish authorities who had exiled the kings. He was born in Corralejo, in what is now the municipality of Pénjamo, which at the time belonged to the Alcaldía Mayor of León.

On April 25, 1833, the city faced its first cholera epidemic. Public petroleum street lighting was established in León in 1835. On February 10, 1875, the School of Secondary Instruction—precursor to the University of Guanajuato—was inaugurated. On December 13, 1885, José María Yermo y Parres inaugurated the Asylum of the Sacred Heart and the congregation of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Poor.

In June 1888, the city suffered a devastating flood. The loss of human lives and the destruction of 117 blocks containing 2,232 houses left more than 5,000 families in misery, caused the emigration of thousands of residents, and nearly destroyed what was then the second most populous city in the country.

In 1896, the Arco de la Calzada, dedicated to the National Heroes, was inaugurated—becoming the first emblem of León’s civic identity.