Rincón de Tamayo

The name tells most of the story. 'Rincón', a corner, refers to the ring of hills that closes the town in on the east: Cerro Pelón, El Picacho, Las Tres Peñas and Cerro de los Huesos, cut by ravines with names like the Witches' and the Souls' barranca. 'Tamayo' is Antonio Tamayo, the first owner of the Hacienda de San Antonio, which still stands on the outskirts. With 11,026 people it is the third-largest locality in the municipality of Celaya, about 14 km southeast of the city and some 1,750 metres above sea level.

The town began with a land grant. In 1717 the viceroy ordered surveyors to measure 600 varas in each direction from the centre of each new settlement. The next year the Marquis of Valero signed a single charter for four Indigenous towns: Santa Cruz de Comontuoso (now Juventino Rosas), El Guaxe (Villagrán), San José de Amoles (Cortazar) and San Bartolomé del Rincón. This one was formally founded on 16 May 1721, last of the four, which is why locals call them sister towns. It was later known as San Bartolomé del Rincón de Tamayo and simply El Rincón before settling on its current name.

The parish church of San Bartolomé Apóstol, a listed historic monument, is still the heart of town, and there is also a church of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The parish office keeps an unofficial coat of arms showing the church, the Franciscan emblem and a woodcutter in front of the hacienda, with the motto 'Trabajo y Virtud' (Work and Virtue). Rincón de Tamayo acts as the informal hub for the surrounding ranchos, from San José el Nuevo to Ojo Seco, whose people come in to shop, study and celebrate; bread leads the trade the town sends out to them. The singer Joan Sebastian wrote 'Rosita de Guanajuato' about a girl from here.