Callejon del Beso - The Alley of the Kiss
Callejon del Beso - The Alley of the Kiss
Legend has it that there lived two people in love called Carlos and Ana. Ana was a rich Spaniard who lived on the left side of the street, and Carlos, a poor miner who would rent the house on the right side for a few gold and silver coins.
Of course the father of Ana did not want her to marry him because he was very poor. He wanted a rich man of the same class to marry his daughter. One night the father surprised the young lovers, when he found them kissing, shoulder to shoulder, reaching out from the balconies of the houses.
The father warned his daughter, "If I see you kissing that man again, I will kill you." Ana didn’t take her father seriously, not believing him capable of doing something like that. The next night, the father came upon the young pair again, this time saying nothing. He went down to his bedroom and returned to bury a dagger in his daughter.
Carlos, in muted horror, bestowed one last kiss to his beloved, on the back of her hand, and then committed suicide in the La Valenciana mine after parting with his everlasting love. Now, it is said that all the couples in love who visit this site should kiss on the third step, which is painted red, to avoid seven years of bad luck.
El Callejon del Beso is located behind the Plaza Los Angeles, in the Historic Center of the City of Guanajuato.
It is a romantic corner formed by two balconies separated by only 69 centimeters, the scene of the famous story for which it owes its name.