Cristo Rey del Cubilete

The Cerro del Cubilete rises about 2,600 metres above the Bajio plains, and it has been called - by tradition rather than strict survey - the geographic centre of Mexico, which is why a monument stands here at all. The present Cristo Rey, dedicated in the 1940s, is a bronze Christ some 20 metres tall standing on a globe with arms open, flanked by kneeling angels holding a crown of thorns and a royal crown; it replaced an earlier statue dynamited during the church-state conflict of the 1920s, and the rebuilding is remembered as a statement of the faith's return. The pilgrimage road climbs in tight switchbacks past shrines and stalls to the summit, where a domed basilica sits beneath the statue, an interior chapel receives constant prayer, and terraces open onto a horizon of farm squares, distant sierras and, on clear mornings, Leon and Guanajuato below. Feast days in January and the surrounding weeks bring enormous crowds, walkers arriving on foot overnight and a fairground atmosphere of food stalls and rosary vendors.

What you actually see

• The bronze Christ - 20 metres on the globe, arms wide.
• The basilica beneath - domed chapel under the statue.
• The Bajio panorama - farm plains and sierras from the terraces.
• The pilgrim road - shrines and stalls up the switchbacks.

When to go

Dry-season mornings for clear views before haze; the January feast brings the biggest pilgrimages and the fullest atmosphere alongside the biggest queues.

Honest expectations

The summit is exposed, cold and windy far more often than visitors expect - bring a layer. The road is narrow with heavy weekend traffic. It is first a place of devotion; visitors are welcome, cameras less so during services.

Nearby

Guanajuato city and Leon are each under an hour; Dolores Hidalgo and the independence route lie northeast.