Ciudad Manuel Doblado

Until 1899 the town was called San Pedro Piedra Gorda, and some people still say it that way. It began in 1681 as an outpost named Piedra Gorda, after a huge rock where, tradition says, pre-Hispanic rulers sat to conduct public business; in 1693 San Pedro was added when it was set up as a congregation. By decree of Governor Joaquín Obregón González it was recognised as a city on 16 November 1899 and renamed for Manuel Doblado, a two-time governor of Guanajuato in the 1800s who was born here.

The other famous son is José Antonio Torres, "el Amo Torres", a hacienda manager who presented himself to Hidalgo in Guanajuato in October 1810, raised an army of archers and slingers and took Guadalajara that November. His figure sits at the centre of the municipal coat of arms, under the Latin motto "Nunquam Victuis Fuit". Only a plaque in the centre marks his home.

It is an easy town to walk. Facing the Plaza de la Victoria is the parish church of San Pedro, described as baroque, with a pastel-toned interior and a heavily decorated dome; it is where emigrants say goodbye before leaving for the United States and where they go first when they come back. Around the garden are also the temples of the Señor del Perdón, San José and the Virgen de la Merced, plus the Casa de la Cultura and Alameda park. Out of town, the former Atotonilquillo hacienda keeps its main compound and gardens, and Las Musas, 18 km along the road to Cuerámaro and Arandas, is a wooded stretch of river with junipers, willows and ash trees, now a protected area.

The calendar has its own rhythm: the city anniversary on 16 March, a fair in April, the Jesús Nazareno fiesta on 3 May with a public dance and a "noche bohemia" the next evening, and the Virgen de la Luz fair on 14 September.