Museo Histórico Casa de Hidalgo, La Francia Chiquita

Don Miguel Hidalgo’s house in San Felipe Torres Mochas, built between 1793 and 1803, where he was parish priest both for the Indians and the Spaniards. The museum reviews the life of the national hero, where he entertained friends and neighbors with works by Molière, and freely discussed the issues of the day: the French Revolution, the ideas of the Enlightenment, Napoleon.

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The museum tells the story of Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla in San Felipe Torres Mochas, Guanajuato. During his stay in that town as parish priest, the house was inhabited by him and his family from 1793 to 1803. When he left this city, the large property continued to be a dwelling, except for a period in 1928, when an arts and crafts school was established. In 1959 it came under the custody of the INAH, and from 1963 restoration work commenced to convert it into a museum. The House of Hidalgo, also called La Francia Chiquita, opened its doors in 1969, and is part of the group of historic sites that make up the Route of Independence.

The property is an excellent example of eighteenth-century civil architecture. It was accessed through a wide hall with an immediate portal, which gave way to a quadrangular courtyard surrounded by rooms. The service areas and the orchard have disappeared. Today, the building is divided transversely from the street to the orchard—which the Father of the Nation turned into botanical garden—and the museum occupies the section on the left-hand side. The other part is private property.

In 2010, on the occasion of the Bicentennial of Independence, a restructuring of the museum was carried out, leaving it with the current presentation, which is divided into five rooms that serve as permanent exhibition galleries: 1. San Felipe: offering a social, economic and cultural panorama of the town. 2. Miguel Hidalgo: biographical information presenting the life of the historical figure. 3. The society of New Spain: the inhabitants of San Felipe and its surroundings, presenting the way of life of the eighteenth century. 4. From priest to businessman: emphasizes the character of the hero as an entrepreneur and amateur businessman. 5. Towards the Insurgency: narrates the arrival of the liberator to the town of Dolores, his participation in the beginning of the War of Independence, and his death.

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San Felipe

This first gallery offers an overview of the social, economic, and cultural context of the region, with special focus on the pivotal period of the Bourbon Reforms, agricultural crises, and the fiscal policies imposed by the Spanish Crown.

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Miguel Hidalgo: Portraits of a Life

This gallery recounts the life of Father Miguel Hidalgo, from his birth to his participation in the independence movement and eventual death. It also features a genealogical tree tracing the lineage of the Father of the Nation, from his great-great-grandparents to his direct descendants.

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Sala Sociedad Novohispana: habitantes de San Felipe y sus alrededores

Colonial Society: Inhabitants of San Felipe and Its Surroundings

Through replicas of casta paintings and a recreated private oratory with mannequins, this gallery presents the makeup of colonial society in San Felipe and showcases 18th-century ways of life as seen through the civil and religious administration of the time.

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From Priest to Entrepreneur

This section explores manual trades as part of an Enlightenment-driven policy aimed at supporting the working classes of the Diocese of Michoacán and Valladolid.

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Toward Insurgency

This section focuses on the period when Miguel Hidalgo arrived in the town of Dolores at the age of 50. There, he planted vineyards, cultivated mulberry trees for silk production, and opened workshops for pottery, tanning, leatherworking, carpentry, blacksmithing, and textiles.

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The Orchard

The orchard Miguel Hidalgo used for various crops—including two the Spanish Crown discouraged in its American colonies: grapevines and mulberry trees.

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