A Look at Zacatecas
Fresh from harsh treatment at the hands of a corrupt Gomez Palacio traficante, I thoroughly enjoyed my badly-cooked meal and gave thanks I had been able to escape jail or impoundment of my car.
So I've always had a desire to return to the city that was founded on a vein of silver, and when Clint invited me to accompany him while he nosed out hidden retablos, I agreed to come.
The Spanish, and the indigenous Zacatecas before them, couldn't have missed the silver. It was found in a mountaintop rock formation called Cerro de la Bufa, which I guess you could translate as "wheeze hill."
It was so named because of the soughing sound the mountain makes when the wind is strong. The silver mines beneath it have long been exhausted. The place has become a tourist attraction. Part of the mine has been converted into a disco, which may well be as good a use for one as any, if you've ever experienced the disappointment of touring a rough, dark hole in the ground.
You can ride a gondola to the summit of Cerro de la Bufa, for an overhead view of the city.
Historically important as one of the truly significant sources of Spain's 16th- and 17th-century wealth, and with a well-preserved city center (after the silver ran out, nobody could afford to tear the old colonial buildings down), Zacatecas today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Like so many old Mexican cities, Zacatecas is chock full of monuments, bringing Mexican history alive for someone like me who has difficulty visualizing past events from written descriptions. This fountain commemorates figures prominent in the founding of the city, among them Juan de Tolosa, credited with discovering the massive silver deposits.
In more recent times, efforts have been made to preserve the details that make this place so visually interesting. These wonderful street lamps caught my eye.
Like San Miguel, Guanajuato and other colonial cities, Zacatecas has narrow pedestrian-only callejónes leading off who-knows-where, lending interest and a sense of mystery.
The city is a tourist magnet. The vast majority of visitors are Mexicans enjoying a beautiful place and soaking up their heritage. With tourists come unfortunate contrivances like this genuine San Francisco cable car.
For an elegant stay, it's hard to top the Quinta Real, built on the site of an old plaza de toreros (bullfight ring), here being set up for a wedding reception. About $200 a night ought to get it: expensive, but not for the top hotel in a significant city anymore. (Clint and I stayed in a cheaper place, lest you get the wrong idea.)
The arches in the background belong to Del Cubo, an ancient aqueduct.
When I think of Zacatecas, though, one image stands out: Zacatecas Cathedral.
Construction started in 1610, but the Mexican Churrigueresque-style exterior was completed in the mid-18th Century. The façade is one of the most ornamented I have seen. Fronted as it is by a busy street, contemplation of the decorations on this beautiful building is problematical—glimpses captured between passing buses and trucks.
But when you can see it, what a sight! We're looking at bas-relief images of the apostles, tucked in between those fantastically carved columns.
Like too many important Mexican churches, the interior of this one was looted during the Civil War and the Revolution. Today, the interior is plain and unremarkable. But the Cathedral remains the landmark of Zacatecas, one of the jewels of Mexico.