Capture of Alhóndiga de Granaditas
The Capture of Alhóndiga de Granaditas was a military action carried out in Guanajuato, viceroyalty of New Spain, on September 28, 1810, between the royalist soldiers of the province and the insurgents commanded by Miguel Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende. The fear unleashed in the social circles of the provincial capital made the intendant, Juan Antonio Riaño, ask the population to barrack in the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, a granary built in 1800, and in whose construction Miguel Hidalgo had participated as an advisor to his old friend Riaño. After several hours of combat, Riaño was killed and the Spaniards who had taken refuge there wished to surrender. The military in the viceroy's service continued the fight, until the insurgents managed to enter and then massacred not only the few guards that defended it, but also the numerous families of civilians who had taken refuge there. Many historians consider this confrontation more like a mutiny or massacre of civilians than a battle, since there were no conditions of military equality between the two sides.
The Battle of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato on September 28, 1810, Oil on canvas, José Díaz del Castillo, 1910.
El tres de mayo de 1808 en Madrid (The Third of May 1808 in Madrid) by Francisco de Goya. The Spanish War of Independence was a direct antecedent of the Mexican Independence and the Capture of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas.
View of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas.
Commemorative plaque: "Entering of the independent army to Guanajuato and taking of this building. September 28th, 1810."
Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato.
Altos de Guanajuato
Cerro Culiacán from Jaral del Progreso
Lake Yuriria
Farmland in the Bajío