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Mexico-Colonial cities

143 images Created 13 Sep 2012

Another Spain, but with a Mexican flavour. The old silver mining cities which includes Guanajuato, San Miguel, Zacatecas, Queretaro and Real de Catorce northwest of Mexico city, are not overwhelmed with tourists and each has its own unique atmosphere, colorful and diverse as the cultures that created the country. Shoehorned into a narrow ravine the colonial gem of Guanajuato, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was for centuries the wealthiest city in Mexico. The great architecture of this city was built using the enormous wealth generated from the silver during the 17th and 18th centuries, when Guanajuato was the source for one-third of the world’s silver. Coming here is like stepping back in time, an authentic and undiscovered experience, at least for foreign tourists, of one of the most picturesque colonial backdrops of Mexico with opulent colonial buildings, charming plazas and brightly colored houses crammed onto the steep slopes of a ravine. Of all the colonial cities Queretaro is strongly steeped in Mexican history, here where the father’s of Mexico’s Independence Movement met in secret, here in 1864 Emperor Maximilian was executed by firing squad and here was written the Mexican Constitution in 1917. San Miguel de Allende for many is a bit like a Mexican Disneyland for foreign (mainly American) retirees but it is, nevertheless, a magical place crowded with old mansions, graceful churches and enchanting cobblestone streets. Almost 2500m above sea level, the old silver town of Zacatecas is overflowing with ornate colonial architecture and intriguing museums, but like other colonial gems is not well known among foreign tourists. The main highlight is the ornate cathedral, but also the old Silver mine of El Eden is a major attraction with seven levels deep into the hill. The ghost town of Real de Catorce is an extraordinary place, silver mines were founded in the surrounding hills in 1772 and in 1898 the town had forty thousand inhabitants but when the mining operations slowed the population drop to virtually zero. Today the centre has been restored, though Real de Catorce certainly retains an air of desolation, and has also become a popular location featuring in movies such The Mexican (2001).

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  • Cortés mansion.
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  • view from Pipila's monument: the cathedral and old University.
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  • Jardin de la Union (Zocalo) with San Diego franciscan  church
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  • Pipila, a indian miner, has been the hero of the  first victory  in War of Indipendence against Spanish troops.
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  • San Diego franciscan  church
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  • Juarez theatre (1873-1903), inaugurated from the dictator Porfirio Diaz.
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  • Cathedal’s square, marriage.
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  • historical Hidalgo market.
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  • N.S. of Guanajuato cathedral, marriage.
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  • Valenciana church (1765-1788) build from Conde de Rul, owner of Valenciana mine, thanking for wealth.
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  • Valenciana church (1765-1788) build from Conde de Rul, owner of Valenciana mine, thanking for wealth.
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  • Valenciana church (1765-1788) build from Conde de Rul, owner of Valenciana mine, thanking for wealth.
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  • Valenciana's mine, once one of the richest of the Spanish empire,  still working.
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  • Las Momias Museum, the quintessential example of Mexico’s obsession with death, displays over 100  mummies, with “grotesque” expressions.
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  • Las Momias Museum, the quintessential example of Mexico’s obsession with death, displays over 100  mummies, with “grotesque” expressions.
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  • handycrafts.
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  • Plaza de la Indipendencia, “Casa de la Corregidora”, where Doña Josefa Ortiz helped mexican rebel leaders.
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  • Plaza de la Indipendencia, “Casa de la Corregidora”, where Doña Josefa Ortiz helped mexican rebel leaders.
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  • Plaza de la Indipendencia. Casa de Ecala
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  • Doña Josefa Ortiz, la "Corregidora" monument.
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  • Plaza de la Indipendencia.
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  • Church of Santa Rosa de Viterbo
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  • Casa de los 5 patios.
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  • Convento de la Santa Cruz, where Maximilian of Absburg was jailed after death sentence.
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  • Hotel “Mesòn de Santa Rosa”, a old resting place for mines convoys on their way to northern Mexico.
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  • Hotel “Casa de la Marquesa”, in a old spanish mansion with original colonial furnishing.
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  • Hotel “Casa de la Marquesa”, in a old spanish mansion with original colonial furnishing.
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  • Hotel ?Casa de la Marquesa?, in a old spanish mansion with original colonial furnishing.
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  • Hotel “Casa de la Marquesa”, in a old spanish mansion with original colonial furnishing.
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  • Palacio de Gobierno. In Aguas Calientes in 1917  leaders of the Mexican Revolution like Villa and Zapata approved the new Mexican Constitution.
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  • Casa de los 5 patios.
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  • The church,  masterpiece of churrigueresque colonial architecture.
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  • San Miguel de Allende, a historic town founded in 1542,in the last years has become an attractive tourist destination for a large American and Canadian expatriate community composed primarily of retirees.
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  • San Miguel de Allende, a historic town founded in 1542,in the last years has become an attractive tourist destination for a large American and Canadian expatriate community composed primarily of retirees.
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  • Casa de Sierra Nevada, a hotel de charme in old colonial houses.
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  • Casa de Sierra Nevada, a hotel de charme in old colonial houses.
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  • San Miguel de Allende, a historic town founded in 1542,in the last years has become an attractive tourist destination for a large American and Canadian expatriate community composed primarily of retirees.
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  • San Miguel de Allende, a historic town founded in 1542,in the last years has become an attractive tourist destination for a large American and Canadian expatriate community composed primarily of retirees.
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  • San Miguel de Allende, a historic town founded in 1542,in the last years has become an attractive tourist destination for a large American and Canadian expatriate community composed primarily of retirees.
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  • handicraft and antiques shop
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  • San Miguel de Allende, a historic town founded in 1542,in the last years has become an attractive tourist destination for a large American and Canadian expatriate community composed primarily of retirees.
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  • San Miguel de Allende, a historic town founded in 1542,in the last years has become an attractive tourist destination for a large American and Canadian expatriate community composed primarily of retirees.
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  • antiques shop
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  • San Miguel de Allende, a historic town founded in 1542,in the last years has become an attractive tourist destination for a large American and Canadian expatriate community composed primarily of retirees.
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  • San Miguel de Allende, a historic town founded in 1542,in the last years has become an attractive tourist destination for a large American and Canadian expatriate community composed primarily of retirees.
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  • handicraft and antiques shop
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  • Inquisition’s coat of arms
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  • Ignacio Allende’s monument
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  • Mexican Indipendence Monument.
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  • St. Francis of Assisi church attracts many Mexican pilgrims.
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  • Real de Catorce, once a rich city surrounded by mines is now a ghost town with few inhabitants. St. Francis of Assisi church attracts many Mexican pilgrims.
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  • St. Francis of Assisi church attracts many Mexican pilgrims.
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  • St. Francis of Assisi church attracts many Mexican pilgrims. Miners ex voto.
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  • Legendary ghost town of Real de Catorce. St. Francis imagen on the market near the church that attracts many Mexican pilgrims.
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  • Ghost town of Real de Catorce. The cemetery
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  • Real de Catorce. Jesus bridge
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  • Ghost town of Real de Catorce. The old Palenque de Gallos, built like a Roman amphitheatre for cocks matches.
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  • Ghost town of Real de Catorce, Casa de la Moneda, (“House of the Money”), where once were minted coins.
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  • Real de Catorce, once a rich city surrounded by mines is now a ghost town with few inhabitants.
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  • Ghost town of Real de Catorce.
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  • Sierra de Catorce
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  • Sierra de Catorce
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  • Ghost town of Real de Catorce. The old Spanish colonial road for this once rich mining city.
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  • Ghost town of Real de Catorce.
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  • Ghost town of Real de Catorce.
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  • St. Francis of Assisi church attracts many Mexican pilgrims.
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  • Zocalo (Main Square).
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  • Instituto Cultural Cabanas, the dome decorated by muralist painter Clemente Orozco.
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  • Tlaquepaque district, well-known as important handmadecraft center. Traditional “Life tree”.
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  • traditional religious holidays
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  • “Navajas” are sharps blades utilised for fighting cocks that brings deadly wounds.
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  • “Navajas” are sharps blades utilised for fighting cocks that brings deadly wounds.
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  • “Pelea de gallos”, cocks fight.
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  • Tonalà, handcrafts market.
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  • Tonalà, handcrafts market.
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  • Tonalà, handcrafts market.
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