La Alhóndiga (al OHN dee gah) is a large, two-story stone structure near the Mercado Hidalgo. A huge stone plaza lies on one side, and a steep street along one side of that plaza leads up to the entrance (on the left side of the building, if you approach it from the big plaza).

Inside you'll find a big courtyard surrounded by a balcony above on the second floor. On the ground floor there is an excellent book shop that also sells DVDs and music CDs related to Mexican history and culture. Next to the book shop is an exhibition area that is easy to miss, unless you look for it. You may think it will be small, but in fact it is a whole series of rooms with changing exhibits.

The permanent exhibits are upstairs, and if you follow the arrows (clockwise), you will begin in  the exhibit of wonderful pre-Columbian artifacts. There are about four rooms of these, and the diaplays are quite good. The variety and quality of the works are really excellent.

After the  pre-Columbian rooms, the rest of the second floor is devoted to the era of the Mexican War of Independence (1810), which began in nearby Dolores Hidalgo but had a major victory here, when a miner nicknamed El Pipila set fire to the wooden door of the Alhóndiga -- which was a grain warehouse, but in which the whole Spanish regiment in Guanajuato was holed up and firing on the freedom fighters. By burning the door, El Pipila made it possile for the insurgents to storm the granary and take it, defeating the Spanish.

Among the exhibits in  the Alhóndiga is a cage in which was displayed (hanging from the four outside corners of the building) the severed head of one of the four leaders of the insurgency: Miguel Hidalgo, Ignacio Allende, Juan Aldama, and Mariano Jiménez. All four heads hung on display for 10 years, until the people of Mexico finally won their independence from Spain.

Alhóndiga de Granaditas / Wikipedia