Situated in fabulously rich mining region, it once produced silver and antimony; also gold, lead, and copper deposits. Once a city of nearly 40,000 people, now nearly a ghost town. A popular tourist stop. Sometimes called Catorce.
Oct 102009
The highlighted green area is Oaxaca state.
The land of mescal, the Guelaguetza and a magical cuisine, Oaxaca is located in the south of Mexico, borders on Guerrero, Puebla, Veracruz and Chiapas and has a spectacular Pacific coastline. Its scenery contains natural contrasts that make it unusually attractive. It is surrounded by the Sierra Madre Oriental, which leads into the Nudo Mixteco and the Sierra Madre del Sur. The Central Valleys are formed by a depression between these mountain chains.
Climates here are extremely varied: tropical in the north of the Sierra de Oaxaca, dry steppes in the valley and Yautepec, dry and desert-like in the ravines and cool in La Mixteca. It was the site of two of the great cultures of pre-Hispanic Mexico: the Zapotec, based in Monte Albán, and the Mixtec, whose capital was Mitla.
After the Conquest, the territory was divided into the capitals of the valley and the isthmus. Oaxaca City, the state capital, is one of the loveliest cities in the country, with its magnificent churches and civil buildings, surrounded by villages of craftspeople, jealous of their traditions and their marvelous natural attractions. Oaxaca?s coasts have some of the most exotic beaches on the Mexican Pacific.
Oct 102009
Minor port on narrow bar off Northwestern Yucatan Peninsula.
Henequen growing, fishing.
Nearby is the Parque Natural del Flamenco Mexicano , biological reserve. There is a surrounding wildlife refuge for a large colony of flamingos. They are most visible from September through March when they are nesting. There are also herons, egrets, pelicans, and ducks.
Oct 102009
Site of a famous flood, which in 1888 almost washed the city away. Leon, on the main Railroad line between El Paso, Texas and Mexico city, and on Mexico Highways 37 and 45, is a commercial, agricultural, and mining center and one of Mexico’s leading leather working and shoemaking cities.
The local mines yield gold, copper, silver, lead, and tin.
Leon was officially founded in 1577. Formerly called Leon de los Aldama.
Oct 102009
Located on the west side of the state, Calvillo was a settlement of Nahua Indians of San José Huejúcar, and it means “Place of Willows.” José Calvillo, owner of the Hacienda of San Nicolás, donated the land for the town’s founding, which was done by the governor of Guadalajara, Manuel Colón de Larreategui on November 18, 1771.
Famous for its guava production, Calvillo offers very interesting places such as the Main plaza, which dates back to 1778. The chapel of El Señor del Salitre, built in 1772 has true picturesque jewels in its paintings.
The Sanctuary of Guadalupe is decorated with paintings that are wallpaper and have images of the Guadalupe Virgin. In El Tepozán, you can admire wall paintings that are anthropomorphic figures of diverse colors, with various other paintings detailing different eras. One of the recreational sites that Calvillo has is the Malpaso dam, where you can practice water sports and fishing. The Laurel mountain range is an elongation of the Sierra Fría. Here mountain climbers, which enjoy a great level of difficulty, will find cliffs and elevated column mountains, which constitute a great challenge. In the Laurel mountain range you can find beautiful sites such as the Alisos waterfall.
Oct 102009
The highlighted green area is Yucatan state.
The legendary land of the Maya is located in the north of the peninsula after which it is named and which it shares with Campeche and Quintana Roo; it is washed by the Gulf of Mexico in the north. Yucatán forms part of the Mayan world, vestiges of which can be found throughout its territory, particularly in Chichén Itzá and along the Puuc Route.
It also contains colonial cities such as Mérida, Valladolid and Izamal, as well as the remains of elegant sisal haciendas, some of which have been restored and converted into hotels. The state is dotted with Mayan villages whose handicrafts, religious rites, traditions and ancient customs contribute to its magical attraction.
The combination of its warm, sub-humid and warm, medium-dry climate have produced forest surroundings that support a wide range of fauna. The lack of surface rivers means that it obtains water from a complex system of underground rivers and limestone sinkholes. Yucatán also offers beaches, traditional fiestas, fairs and exquisite food.
Oct 102009
The highlighted green area is Tamaulipas state.
In the extreme northeast of Mexico, bounded by Nuevo León. San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, the Gulf of Mexico and Texas, lies the state of Tamaulipas, whose name is derived from the Huastec Tamaholipa, “place where people pray a lot,” referring to the mission churches. However, neither the Conquest nor the subsequent evangelization was to have any significant effect on these regions.
Located midway between the tropics and the cool steppes, this state has contrasting scenery: high mountainous areas, fertile plains and coastlines with miles of beaches, some almost unspoiled and others virtually unknown. Tamaulipas also offers biosphere reserves, paths with springs, grottoes, limestone sinkholes and even desert.
One of Tamaulipas main activities is cattle raising, while its artisans produce superb leather goods. Its fiestas and dances are famous and its cuisine extremely distinctive.
Oct 102009
The highlighted green area is Nuevo Leon state.
This state, located in the northeast of Mexico, borders on the states of Coahuila, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas: to the north, it borders on Texas. Its climate is extreme: cold most of the year and cool and rainy in the summer in the highlands, cool in the south with extreme temperatures in the desert. It was occupied by nomadic groups of hunter-gatherers, whose testimony has been reduced to cave paintings in Boca de Potrerillos. During the last third of the 16th century, the Spaniards ventured into the region and built a number of constructions.
The territory is dotted with fascinating natural sites such as waterfalls, grottoes, ravines and mountains, ideal for adventure tourism. Nowadays its capital, Monterrey, is one of Mexico?s major cities. It is a center of cultural activity, due to its magnificent museums and other places of interest.
Oct 102009
The third-largest city of Mexico, Monterrey is the Railroad and highway hub of NE Mexico. It is also Mexico’s second-most important industrial center. The site of the nation’s largest iron and steel foundries and a major producer of cement. Monterrey’s modern industrial complex also includes a wide range of light manufacturing (including glass and beverages).
The city has experienced further growth with the construction of maquiladoras, foreign-owned plants that use low-wage labor for goods exported to the U.S. Natural gas, coal and petroleum from the neighboring states of Coahuila and Tamaulipas are also major sources of industrial activity.
Its moderate, dry climate, cool mountains, and hot springs make the Monterrey area a popular resort. Monterrey is the home of the University of Nuevo Leon and Monterrey Technical Institute, one of Mexico’s most prestigious institutions of higher education.
The city was founded in 1579.
Oct 102009
Pachuca, one of Mexico’s oldest and most famous mining towns, was founded in 1534 on the site of an ancient Toltec city. The region is extremely rich in ore deposits, especially silver, which has been mined since Aztec times.
Pachuca is also a cultural and educational center, with a university, a meteorological observatory, and a noted school of mining and metallurgy.
Landmarks include a 16th-century convent and church and La Caja, built in 1670 as a storehouse to hold the royal tribute.
Oct 102009
The highlighted green area is Hidalgo state.
The state of Hidalgo occupies a privileged region in the center of Mexico and borders on the states of Mexico, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Veracruz, San Luis Potosí and Querétaro, giving it a variety of climates, landscapes, ethnic groups and traditions. These contrasts constitute its greatest attraction for Mexican and foreign visitors alike.
Hidalgo offer archaeological zones such as Tula (the great metropolis of Toltec culture), and Huapolcalco; beautiful churches, monasteries and colonial and 19th century mansions, pulque haciendas; fascinating museums; national parks, ideal sites for adventure tourism and ecotourism; former mining towns and various spas, most with thermal waters. Visitors to Hidalgo will find the best options for adventure, recreation, culture or simply relaxation.
Oct 102009
Rivaling Veracruz as Mexico’s most important seaport, Tampico is used primarily for Mexico’s petroleum industry and fishing. It possesses excellent modern facilities and also serves as an export center for Tamaulipas’s other goods, including cattle, hides, sugar, and additional agricultural products.
In pre-Columbian times, the Tampico area was the site of the Huastec kingdom, which later became a tributary of the Aztec Empire. Spanish settlement dates back to the founding of a Franciscan mission there in the 1530s. Tampico was occupied by a U.S. force during the Mexican War and by French troops in 1862, during the French intervention.
With the discovery of oil (circa 1900) by Engineer and American geologists, rapid development of petroleum industries began; before Mexico expropriated foreign-owned property, about 13 percent of Tampico’s landowners were Americans. The city boomed while much of the rest of Mexico was in revolutionary turmoil.
Tampico is the seat of a state university and an active cultural center.
Oct 102009
The highlighted green area is Campeche state.
Campeche is part of the enormous plain comprising the Yucatán peninsula, which it shares with Yucatán and Quintana Roo. It was inhabited by groups from the ancient Mayan culture, traces of which can still be seen in places like Edzná and Calakmul. On the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, in what was once the Mayan city of Ah Kin Pech (“place of the sun”), Francisco de Montejo el Mozo ordered the construction of Villa de San Francisco de Campeche.
Owing to its strategic location, it suffered numerous pirate attacks, as a result of which a defense system of walls and forts was built, traces of which still remain, giving it its distinctive appearance. The state?s surroundings are tropical, and unlike its neighbors on the peninsula, it has several rivers, in addition to beaches, archaeological sites, colonial buildings, nineteenth-century haciendas and nature reserves with an astonishing variety of flora and fauna.
Nuevo Laredo is the Northern terminus of the national Railroad and the Inter-Americas Highway, as well as an important point of entry for U.S. tourists driving to Mexico. It is also a center of international trade and the distribution point for an agricultural (mainly cotton) and livestock-raising area; commerce; tourism industry.
Nuevo Laredo has been one of the many Mexican cities affected by an influx of foreign capital, primarily due to the establishment of foreign-owned industrial plants, known as maquiladoras. Has developed into a transportation-trans-shipment center since NAFTA (1993).
Founded in 1755, the city was part of Laredo until the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. Nuevo Laredo played a role in the Mexican revolution of 1910 and was burned extensively in 1914.
Oct 102009
Called Carlsbad of Mexico because of famed mineral springs. Has old colonial churches.
Oct 102009
The highlighted green area is Chiapas state.
Chiapas, a state in the southeast of Mexico, is full of contrasts. Its geographical and cultural diversity, complex history, natural richness and variety of ethnic groups make it one of the country?s most attractive tourist destinations.
Chiapas is virtually synonymous with nature. This green strip of Mexico contains one of the most complex biotic diversities in the country. It has mountain ranges, rivers, volcanoes, plains, canyons, waterfalls, lakes, cloud forests, coast and savannah. Much of its territory is considered a nature reserve, and supports an astonishing range of flora and fauna. Its attractions include archaeological sites, colonial cities, nature reserves, Indian communities, beaches and places for engaging in open-air sports and ecotourism.
It has two of the largest, most spectacular rivers in the country, the Grijalva and the Usumacinta.
Oct 102009
The city, on Mexico Highway 45-49, is the center of a rich mining area known especially for silver. It has a mining school. Agricultural (cereals, beans) and cattle raising are other important economic activities.
Fresnillo was founded in 1554 by Francisco de Ibarra. Also known as Fresnillo de Gonzalez Echeverria.
