“Why does watching a dog be a dog fill one with happiness?”
— Jonathan Safran Foer (author, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)
I promised Pam last night a story about dogs so here goes.
San Miguel de Allende, where we are staying, is almost 500 years old. Before the Spanish established this hamlet as the northernmost border of their empire it was known to the indigenous people here as Quanax-juato, which meant 'a place of frogs', since it was overrun with the amphibians. The Spanish would later hear the sound of it and translate it 'Guanajuato'. This is the name for the state today.
Of note, I have yet to see a single frog. However, I have seen a turtle.
At that time there were multiple different ethnic groups here in the area. The Aztecs would call the people here 'Chichimecas' which was a pejorative term implying they were 'descended' from dogs'.
But, that is not my dog story.
In 1542 a Franciscan friar named Juan de San Miguel had lost his beloved dogs.
(According to the story they were 'hound dogs' - so in my mind I chose to believe they were Basset hounds - But I digress)
Father Miguel had established a mission about a mile from here near a river that often ran dry. He started to search for the dogs and after a time he found the wayward puppers resting at a natural spring called "El Chorro". The site was a vast improvement from the previous one and Father Miguel moved the mission to this location. Thus, due to some wandering thirsty (Basset) hounds, San Miguel was born.
You may have noticed in the previous blogs posts that this beautiful town is dominated by churches. None are more prominent than “Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel” This pink wedding cake structure dominates the central square. Like many churches and cathedrals we have seen, it took many, many years to build. It was started in the 17th century and not completed until the 1800's.
What is interesting is the stone mason who was responsible for the design took his inspiration from post card of a church in Belgium. In order to guide his workmen he would use a stick and draw in the sand!
Bonus content -
My friend Pam shared with me this very interesting NPR article about the Spanish conquest of Mexico. - It is well worth a read.
Comments