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Secondary sourceArtifact1798-1809 (built); 1810 (battle)

Alhóndiga de Granaditas

1798-1809 (built); 1810 (battle)

The grain-exchange building in Guanajuato stormed by Hidalgo's insurgent army in 1810, later used to display his severed head.

Hidalgo's army stormed this building in 1810, and his severed head was later displayed here as a warning.

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Front facade of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, a large stone building with rows of small barred windows, its weathered pinkish-beige walls and a wide stone staircase in the foreground. Two people walk on the plaza, and a third stands at right.
Alhóndiga de Granaditas, Guanajuato, Mexico.

About this source

What it is

The Alhóndiga de Granaditas is a grain storage building in Guanajuato, built between 1798 and 1809. In September 1810 it became the site of a major battle when Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla's insurgent army, numbering in the thousands, stormed the building where loyalists had taken refuge. It is now a museum.

Why it matters

The battle here was one of the first major clashes of the Mexican War of Independence and a bloody turning point. After Hidalgo's capture and execution, his severed head was displayed here in a cage for about a decade, a grim warning to other would-be rebels. The building connects Hidalgo's rise as a military leader to his eventual fate.

Look closer

  • Why would authorities choose to display Hidalgo's head at this exact building?
  • What does the scale of the battle tell you about how large the insurgent movement had grown?
  • How does a building like this become a place of memory and legend over time?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Primary source

Edicto contra Hidalgo

Apostolic Inquisitors of New Spain · 1810

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Primary source

Signature of Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla

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Secondary source

Calabozo de Hidalgo, Chihuahua

18th century

Hand-colored lithograph of a standing man in a black cape, wide-brimmed hat with red and green plumes, red sash, blue trousers and tall boots, holding a cross raised in one hand and a walking staff in the other, with a sabre at his side.Painting

Secondary source

Miguel Hidalgo (2) by Claudio Linati 1828

Claudio Linati · 1828

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