The history of Santa Cecilia Castle dates back several centuries, when the land where it was located originally belonged to the San Francisco Javier processing farm around the year 1686, whose working facilities were located where the San Javier colony is today; there hundreds of workers under orders from the Viceroy of New Spain carried out the tasks of processing metal that was brought from nearby mines. Over time and with the advent of new farming methods, the conditions and layout of the hacienda changed, leading to the decline of this workplace and its mining production was reduced to a minimum.
It would be many years later when the San Francisco Javier hacienda would come to recover some of its former splendor and on October 27, 1881 it was visited by General Porfirio Díaz and Governor Manuel Muñoz Ledo, who praised the way it was worked. In the mine they were weighed at the entrance and exit, to verify that they did not carry even a gram of the metal that was produced. General Díaz weighed exactly the same when he entered and left, but not the same for other individuals who accompanied him.
Unfortunately, mining production began to decline throughout Guanajuato and many of the metal processing haciendas disappeared or reduced their activities. Part of the facilities of the San Francisco Javier hacienda were adapted to provide various services and thus by 1916 it became a shelter and hospital, remaining in these conditions for a year, until it was completely closed due to unprofitability.
The property was acquired by Don Manuel Quezada Brandy. This also included a large area of land, where there was even an abandoned mine shaft, known as "Santa Cecilia" and so it was that on May 17, 1951, construction began on a hotel with the characteristics of a medieval castle.
Opened in 1952, the hotel's fame grew. Important personalities would stay there while lavish balls and ceremonies were held in its halls, attended by politicians, internationally famous artists, as well as the most select of Guanajuato society.
Manuel Quezada Brandy started the hotel in its first stage with the construction of 20 rooms, in a second stage Don Ricardo Orozco grew the hotel to 80 rooms and currently Alfonso García García and his family have refurbished its entire facility and increased the total number of rooms to 110 units.
Several movies and TV shows have been filmed at the hotel, including:
They have also stayed at different times, among other characters: Carlos de Borbón and Doña Sofía (Kings of Spain)