Coroneo

Coroneo sits on a rise ringed by hills, at Guanajuato's southern edge against Michoacán, which explains the name, usually rendered as "the place that is surrounded". Otomí settlers are said to have founded it in 1537 and it was granted pueblo status in 1572, while the official founding is dated 8 December 1572. The town grew around a Franciscan convent built between the late 1500s and early 1600s, and Franciscan friars still run the parish of Santiago Apóstol.

The church faces the main garden. It is built of dark quarried stone, dates from 1901, and has a stained-glass window of Saint James over the entrance and a musical clock that plays the Ave María on the hour. Next to it stands the chapel of the old convent, from the 1600s. In the convent garden there is a small stone copy of the old Basilica of Guadalupe, carved in 1965 by Fray Antonio López Durán. Floodlights have lit the church at night since 2009.

Wool is the local trade. Family workshops weave blankets, shawls, sweaters, rugs and the luxury gabán, a heavy coat with horse heads, deer heads and horseshoes worked into the pattern and borders along the hem. Drawn-thread embroidery and crochet are done too, and a monument to the craftspeople greets you on the road from Acámbaro. Five kilometres north lies the Cebolletas dam, begun in 1834, with a picnic area of kiosks, beach-volleyball courts and stalls selling regional food.

The fiesta of Santiago, 16 to 26 October, is the big date. There is a novena with pilgrimages from the surrounding communities, dawn bells and fireworks, and a staged war of Moors and Christians fought in five battles. From the 22nd to the 24th riders arrive from Querétaro, Michoacán and other Guanajuato municipalities, about 4,000 in all. The 25th is the main day, and each night families light pine-torch bonfires outside their doors.