Since being designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988,
Guanajuato has attracted a stream of public and private funding for
restoration. The small village of Mellado has also claimed a piece of
this "restoration pie" for the Templo de Mellado and its treasures.

Mellado had its beginnings as a mining site that was first established
during the 1550s. By the 17th and 18th centuries it accumulated a
level of prosperity sufficient for erecting buildings of some
architectural value, such as the Templo de Mellado.

With its dizzying vista, the Templo was built in 1725, but its chapel
has existed since the 1560s. The prosperous mining years of the town
also coincided with an influx of missionaries and monks, particularly
The Mercedarios, or Order of Mercy who established themselves at this
site. This Order first came to Mexico with Christopher Columbus and
eventually founded a great many churches and convents in Latin
America. In Mellado, it seems, their work was in redeeming prisoners,
or those who had debts to pay. They also offered the new converts a
hospital, school and workshops and played a huge role in the
acculturation of the Indians by introducing them to European arts and
crafts. The monks were also said to have defended the Indians from
abuse by the Spanish landowners and administrators by continually
reminding them that "everyone was the same in the eyes of God."

Today in Mellado, a collective of cultural activists, historians and
restoration specialists are working very hard to raise funds for the
preservation of the Templo for future generations. There are many
artifacts and paintings that are in need of immediate attention. Most
were created in the elaborate Baroque style and later were designed to
appeal to more neo-classical tastes.

Mellado also has another claim to fame besides the Templo. It was
home to the great local liberator and miner, El Pipila, whose real
name was Juan José de los Reyes Martinez (1782-1863). A colossal
monument to this hero and common miner was built to honour him on the
heights of Guanajuato.

El Pipila set fire to the Alhondiga granary gates on September 28,
1810, allowing the rebel Miguel Hidalgo's troops to win the first
battle of the independence movement against Spain. Today El Pipila's
massive monument holds a torch high above the city of Guanajuato which
spreads below: theatres, churches, plazas, domes, spires and rising
above it all - and on the opposite side - is the bulwark of the
still operating mines of Mellado. El Pipila signals across the
valley to this small town, whose glittering riches helped to build
Guanajuato.