Legend of the Alley of the Kiss

Some of the most beautiful aspects of the city that immediately capture you as a visitor to Guanajuato City are the colourful and winding cobblestone streets that invite you to wander and become lost in this extremely pedestrian-friendly city.

Unlike regular grid city layouts, the narrow and winding streets of this city follow the irregularity of what was once a river passing through the city. As a result, small winding alleyways and steep staircases are everywhere - which were once paths to and from the river. Some of the alleyways have been given very whimsical names such as Sal si puedes or “Exit if you can," translated into English.

The most famous alleyway is the Callejon del Beso (Alley of the Kiss) which measures only 66 inches wide at its narrowest point. The name comes from a local legend of forbidden love and murder. There are many variations of the local tale but most versions are very reminiscent of the Shakespearian tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.

The story goes something like this:

Ana and Juan (different names are used in other variations) are young and in love but when Ana’s father learns of their relationship, he becomes furious because Juan is a poor miner. He locks Ana away and threatens to send her to a convent. His grand plan is to marry her off to an old rich Spanish nobleman to increase his own wealth.

Heartbroken, Juan is determined to be with Ana and works hard to mine enough silver to buy the house opposite to the house of Ana’s father. The balcony of his new house is positioned very close to the balcony of the room where Ana is confined (the balconies are only 66 inches apart), allowing them to reach across to each other and kiss.

Every night, the couple meet on their balconies in secret. However, one evening, Ana’s father discovers their balcony relationship and becomes so enraged that he stabs Ana in the chest, brutally killing her. In one variation of the story, Juan attempts to jump from his balcony to the other balcony to embrace Ana one last time but falls to his death by breaking his neck in the alley below. In another variation, Juan is so overcome with grief after seeing Ana’s lifeless body that he takes his own life and jumps to his death below.

Today, it is said that couples who kiss each other in this alley from these two balconies (or under these balconies) will experience seven years of love and happiness, a blessing from the spirits of the two tragic lovers in this Legend of the Alley of the Kiss.