Doors of San Miguel De Allende

Over the years, San Miguel De Allende has turned into a tourist Mecca for a reason – a beautiful colonial town, it oozes old-world charm and is a visual delight.

Lining the winding cobblestone streets are brightly painted stucco walled buildings. Many structures in the town’s historic colonial center date from the 17th and 18th centuries. With the recent rise in popularity of San Miguel De Allende as a cultural hotspot & a bohemian capitol of the world, we were very worried that modernization & over-tourism would have changed the town for the worse. While the El Jardin now has a Starbucks competing for space & advertisements for real estate spaces with prices that rival any American city, somehow, the town has managed to retain its charm and the structures have remained mostly intact. I do not know for how long the town can resist gentrification. It’s poor accessibility might be a big reason why the town is still un-spoilt. It does not have an airport of it’s own, it is 4 hours by bus or car from the nearest big city – Mexico City, and it is far away from the ports that are frequented by the big cruises.     

I read somewhere that the residents of San Miguel De Allende are obliged to paint the exterior of their buildings in mineral based paints. This would explain why reds and yellows are the predominant colors in San Miguel De Allende. The walls are every shade of red and yellow possible –  coral, sandstone, burgundy, marigold, rose & scarlet.

The doors of San Miguel De Allende are remarkably charming & diverse. Predominantly made of wood, they all stand distinct in features from each other and are bursting with character. Some of these are richly grained whereas others painted in lively colors, they are adorned with door knockers of various kinds such as the extended hand, the lion head, the common ring, the fist and other such animal shapes. Most of these doors also have vines and creepers artfully overhanging.

On our recent visit to San Miguel De Allende, we decided to do a photo expedition of its doors. Some of these doors are of commercial establishments such as bakeries & banks, some are antique in nature, some are doors to mansions and common houses but each & every one of these here exudes a character of its own.