The house of San Miguel's most famous son and namesake, the independence leader Ignacio Allende, is a museum. It is of the genre known as museos regionales that you will find across Mexico. The objective of these museums is to present a view of the local area from prehistoric times to recent history; to explain what roles the region played in the context of national development; and to give some idea of how the great historical movements that swept across Mexico ran their courses at the local level. Featured is a small biographical exhibit on Allende as one of the initiators of the independence movement, which began in nearby Dolores Hidalgo, and on what national independence meant for San Miguel and the local area. Explanations are in Spanish only, but the artifacts -- including fossils, pre-Hispanic pottery, Colonial-Era furnishings, and articles of daily life -- and the beauty of the house are worth the price. On my last visit, the museum was closed for renovation but should be open by late 2008.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Mexico 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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