Atotonilco, a small town with less than 600 inhabitants and whose name means place of hot water, is about 14 kilometres from San Miguel de Allende and just over 30 kilometres from Dolores Hidalgo, two cities that played a leading role in Mexican independence. Its proximity to these two municipalities, key on the Independence Route, allowed Atotonilco to also have a leading role. reason why you should visit Atotonilco: the Jesús Nazareno Sanctuary and its House of Spiritual Exercises, whose construction began in 1740 – under the supervision of the priest Luis Felipe Neri de Alfaro.

This baroque temple, officially known as the Sanctuary of God and the Country, is visited every year by thousands of faithful Christians, but also by many art lovers who want to admire closely the pictorial works that decorate the walls and ceilings of its main nave. and of the seven adjoining chapels. There is not a single free space and that is why there are those who dare to call this Sanctuary the Mexican "Sistine Chapel". Its apparent exterior simplicity does not allow to guess the artistic treasures that it protects in its interior, work of the artists Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre, José María Barajas and Juan Rodríguez Juárez.