La Valenciana

The Valenciana vein made its owner, the Count of Rul, one of the wealthiest men in the Spanish empire, and the count did what such fortunes did: he built a church. San Cayetano, finished in the 1780s on the hill above Guanajuato, wears a rose-stone Churrigueresque facade of estipite columns and saints, and its interior stops visitors at the door - three enormous retablos of carved wood covered in gold leaf, plus a pulpit inlaid with ivory and shell, glowing in the dim like a treasure cave. The story goes that miners tithed a portion of ore to the building; the numbers involved in the vein's output make the extravagance legible. Beside the church, the mine itself still runs guided visits: the Bocamina San Ramon and neighbouring shafts take visitors down stone stairways into cool tunnels where guides explain the hand-drilling, candle-lit labour and the water problem that dogged every silver mine, before returning past mineral displays and terrace views over the city. Silver shops line the road, some genuinely good, some tourist-grade.

What you actually see

• The facade - pink stone Churrigueresque above the city.
• The gilded retablos - three golden altars and the inlaid pulpit.
• The mine descent - candlelit tunnels of the great vein.
• The terrace view - Guanajuato's bowl of coloured houses below.

When to go

Mornings for light on the facade and quiet inside; the mine tours run through the day. Any season - the interior does not care about weather.

Honest expectations

The mine stairs are steep, damp and low in places - not for claustrophobes or bad knees. Church hours yield to services. Silver-shop quality varies; ask about grade before buying.

Nearby

Guanajuato's centre, the Pipila lookout and the mummy museum lie downhill; Dolores Hidalgo is 45 minutes north.