Monumento Al Pipila: Guanajuato Travel Guide (4.7★)

A miner with a torch over the city

The statue honours a miner. Juan José de los Reyes Martínez, known as El Pípila, is remembered for an act on 28 September 1810, early in the War of Independence. He strapped a stone slab to his back as a shield and set fire to the wooden door of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, the granary where royalist troops had barricaded themselves.

The figure was raised in 1939. It’s a massive pink cantera stone giant holding a torch over his head and facing down over the rooftops. The base carries the line “Aún hay otras Alhóndigas por incendiar”: there are still other Alhóndigas to burn. Plan on 45 minutes to an hour up here, more if you stay for sunset.

Two ways up Cerro de San Miguel

Most visitors take the funicular. Its lower station sits on Plaza Constancia, directly behind Teatro Juárez, and the car rises up the hillside in about a minute. Tickets are sold at the booth by the platform, which is also where the current fare is posted. The funicular’s hours are separate from the monument’s, so check them before you rely on it after dark.

On foot, signed callejones climb from the streets around Teatro Juárez and Calle Sopeña. It’s roughly 15 to 20 minutes of stone steps and steep ramps between painted houses. At 2,000 metres of altitude, the stairs feel steeper than they look. A good compromise is to ride up and walk down.

What the terrace shows you

The terrace behind the statue looks straight down into the ravine the city is built in. From there you can pick out the landmarks you’ve been walking past at street level:

• Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato: the yellow and red church on Plaza de la Paz
• Universidad de Guanajuato: a white building with a long flight of steps
• Teatro Juárez: a green-bronze roof with statues of the muses
• Templo de San Diego: beside Jardín de la Unión
• The colour-washed houses stacked up the opposite hillsides

Railings run along the edge, and stalls sell snacks and souvenirs nearby. After dark the domes are lit, and the city turns into a bowl of lights.

Timing the climb around the crowds

Mornings are the quiet window. Footfall is lowest from 7am to 10am on weekdays and from 7am to 9am on weekends. At that time you can stand at the railing without people behind you, and the low light falls across the facades.

Try not to arrive on a weekend between 11am and 11pm. That’s the busiest stretch, and the funicular queue backs up into Plaza Constancia. If sunset is your goal, go on a weekday and get to the terrace a good half hour early to claim a spot at the railing.

• Carry small cash for the funicular booth and the stalls.
• Take photos of the statue from the terrace side, where you can get the city behind it.
• The monument is open around the clock, but the alleys are dim late at night. Go back down in a group, or take the funicular while it’s still running.