Alhondiga Door

A tour of the Alhondiga de Granaditas (House of Grains) resulted in an intense Mexican history lesson. This important building occupies an entire city block and is credited as being the site of the first battle of the Mexican War of Independence between insurgents and royalist troops on 28 September 1810. Loyalists barricaded themselves against the insurgents in this building. They would most likely have lasted if not for El Pípal, who strapped a flat stone to his back to protect himself from royalist gunfire and burned the entry door. This door detail is not from an entry door, but rather one of the many 200 year-old interior doors that have absorbed the effects of all those years.