San Miguel de Allende is home to a bold young crowd of talent that’s thriving off the city’s brightly-hued heritage
Along the cobbled streets of San Miguel de Allende, vibrant colors seep from every corner; from homes painted in bright shades of blue and red, and doorways framed with marigolds, to La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, a 17th-century church with a dusty pink neo-Gothic façade created in 1880 by self-taught architect Zeferino Gutiérrez. Bright hues can be found in less obvious places, too: a sunny yellow courtyard tucked behind old wooden doors or, hidden deep inside a former convent, a geometric mural by Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros. Even the sky seems a richer shade of blue.
The Trip to San Miguel de Allende
‘It wasn’t always this colorful,’ says Daniel Valero, founder of local design studio Mestiz. ‘San Miguel has been through different phases, from being a prominent city, before independence, to a ghost town,’ he says of the historic settlement, located in the country’s central highlands, about a four-hour drive north of Mexico City.
Valero, who moved here from the capital five years ago, is one of the many creatives injecting new life here. ‘Recently, there has been a wave of young designers and artists refreshing things,’ says Laura Kirar, a US- and Mérida-based designer who opened hotel and design store Mesón Hidalgo in a 17th-century building in the town center. ‘There’s something magical about the city that draws creative people.’
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