[New post] Mineral de Pozos: The Ghost Town of Guanajuato
Ken Lawrence posted: "Despite being one of Mexico's most unique Magic Towns and being within easy reach of the tourist mecca of San Miguel de Allende, very few travelers have heard of Mineral de Pozos. But the fact that it's a ghost town - home to just a few thousand people an" Sailingstone Travel
Despite being one of Mexico's most unique Magic Towns and being within easy reach of the tourist mecca of San Miguel de Allende, very few travelers have heard of Mineral de Pozos. But the fact that it's a ghost town - home to just a few thousand people and countless abandoned buildings - is one of its main appeals.
Things weren't always that way, however. Mineral de Pozos was in fact a booming mining town throughout the 16th-20th centuries. As we cover the main things to do and see in the area below, we'll be going into detail about the town's dramatic rise and fall.
For more information on reaching Mineral de Pozos as well as info on where to stay, be sure to check the end of the article.
Around the Town Center
Getting off the bus on a weekday morning, I spotted no more than a handful of people walking around the town center. And just as expected, most of the buildings seemed to be empty.
My first destination was the Parroquia de San Pedro Apóstol, a 17th-century church built by the Jesuits. As we'll cover below, it was the Jesuits who built many of the town's most prominent structures.
While the interior is said to be beautiful, the church was sadly closed. And so I took the opportunity to walk around the area to see what I could (or couldn't) find in this 'Pueblo Fantasma.'
In addition to abandoned churches and houses, I even encountered an entire empty plaza. But it seemed to have been added fairly recently.
Mineral de Pozos was declared a Pueblo Mágico in 2012, and the tiny town has been trying to attract more tourists ever since.
Later in the afternoon, I'd return to the center to check out the main plaza, Plaza Zaragoza, which lies a few blocks to the west of the main road. But even on this sunny afternoon, I spotted no more than a handful of people.
Believe it or not, the town is said to get fairly lively on weekends. But if you want the full experience of visiting a true ghost town, coming on a weekday is the way to go.
The History Museum
The main attraction in the center would have to be the local History Museum. While not directly in the center, you can find it along the main road a bit north of town.
While in Spanish only, the museum provides detailed information on the pre-Hispanic history of the region and how it eventually turned into one of Mexico's most important mining towns.
Chichimec artifactsA replica of a Chichimec cave
As the museum is open until 18:00, I'd recommend saving it for last. As we'll soon cover, Mineral de Pozos' main highlights are situated around the town's outskirts. And if you're visiting without a car, be ready for a long and tiring (but worthwhile) day.
Visiting the Hacienda Santa Brigida
After briefly checking out the town center, I decided to start the day by heading to Hacienda Santa Brigida, arguably the most interesting area of Mineral de Pozos.
But without a single bicycle rental shop in town, I had to make the journey on foot. Located about 3.5 km east of the town center, walking to Santa Brigida will take most people about 45 minutes.
The journey, which you can find outlined on Maps.me, mostly takes place along dusty dirt roads. And while a few vehicles will occasionally pass you by, you'll likely find yourself alone throughout the scenic walk - just as you would expect.
A helpful sign along the way
As we'll go over shortly, Santa Brigida is probably the most visually interesting part of Mineral de Pozos. But it's also the town's most historically important area, as the rise of the settlement is synonymous with the history of the town itself.
In the first half of the 16th century, the Spanish had discovered gold nearby in Guanajuato and Zacatecas. At the time, Mineral de Pozos was merely one stop along a massive gold route, stretching over 2500 km between Mexico City and modern-day New Mexico, USA.
And like many cities and towns in the region, the Spanish had to deal with incessant attacks from the semi-nomadic Chichimecs, who resisted colonial rule well after the defeat of the Aztec Empire.
Mineral de Pozos, in fact – like numerous others throughout the Bajío region – was originally founded as a military outpost to protect Spanish settlers from Chichimec attacks.
The Jesuits then arrived in 1576. And they were the first to build in the area of Santa Brigida, which actually began as a defensive fortress. But it wasn't long before they discovered that this area too was rich in gold.
Today, the unofficial symbol of Mineral de Pozos is its set of three narrow pyramidal ovens, or hornos. These ovens, which were used as smelting furnaces for the local mining industry, were built by the Jesuits in 1595.
Before your visit, you should note that a visit to the ovens is not free. At the time of my trip, visitors were being asked to pay a rather exorbitant 100 pesos. Apparently, they've been raising the prices consistently every several months, so it may even be higher by the time you visit.
The fee does, at least, grant access to the entire ex-hacienda, of which the ovens are only a small part.
As the ovens are protected by barbed wire and can only be seen from a distance, viewing them won't take more than several minutes.
Fortunately, there's quite a lot more to explore around the area, including plenty of buildings that you can indeed walk through.
During my visit, I ran into an American woman who'd previously called Mineral de Pozos home for years. And she explained that the family that has owned this land for generations has recently been in a land dispute with the local ejido (communal landowning group).
That's why you'll see a lot of barbed wire surrounding the property - a relatively recent addition to keep out potential squatters.
When exploring the Ex-Hacienda of Santa Brigida, be sure to frequently look down. While the large former mine that splits the property in two is hard to miss, there are numerous smaller pits to watch out for as well.
Clearly, mining operations in the area have long since ceased, a topic we'll cover more in-depth shortly.
Aside from the ovens, Santa Brigida is known for another remarkable landmark, also built by the Jesuits in 1595. Its purpose was to act as a purifier for poisonous air coming from the underground mines.
But at the same time, it also served as an astronomical observatory!
Outside the Magic Arches
Information about this amazing construction is rather scarce – both on-site and online. But as you walk through the long structure and its countless arches, you'll likely find it to have a hypnotic effect.
While impossible to accurately describe in words or through a few photographs, maintaining your focus in the distance as you move forward results in a rather disorienting optical illusion.
Reaching the end of the structure, be sure to look up through the large hole in the tower. It was surely this portion that served as an observatory. And while the signage doesn't explain exactly which, both particular lunar and solar phenomena were once observed from here.
Back near the hacienda itself, don't miss the massive well that descends about 120 meters into the earth. Thankfully, plenty of protective fencing has been installed around it.
While the former hacienda itself cannot be entered, one can at least view the large residence from the outside.
Finished with my visit, I began the long walk back. But as luck would have it, a friendly truck driver soon pulled over and told me to hop in. He kindly dropped me off back in the center of town, which allowed me some extra time to explore.
The Western Outskirts
After a stop for lunch at Antojería de Barrio, one of the few open restaurants near the central square, I set off to explore the area to the west of Mineral de Pozos.
Inquiring around some more and confirming that no bike rental shops existed, I'd again have to make the long journey on foot.
Mina Centenario
As you make your way west of the town center, the first landmark you'll encounter is Mina Centenario, one of the few mines around town that visitors can enter. Others are apparently open on the weekends, while Mina Centenario appears to be open daily.
While the official entrance isn't obvious, you should see a gift shop along the main road. It's run by the same family who owns the property and gives the mine tours, so talk to them and they should direct you out back.
I arrived to find a small hut containing a box of hard hats as the guide was just coming out with another group. The tour costs 70 pesos, which is quite a lot considering its brevity. But the guide was friendly and gave me a lot of interesting information about the history of the local mining industry.
There were once as many as 300 mines in Mineral de Pozos, along with up to 70,000 inhabitants. But today the town has zero functioning mines and just a few thousand residents. So what happened?
The mines first experienced flooding shortly after Mexican independence in the 1820s. But they were able to be drained with special machinery. Shortly thereafter, the town saw an increase in American and French mining companies coming to the region and the economy boomed.
The economy flourished even further in the late 19th century, largely thanks to President Porfirio Díaz who poured a lot of money into Pozos to boost infrastructure. But in 1938, the mines flooded once again. And this time, the damage was irreversible.
Escuela Modelo
A bit further west is another unique attraction: the Escuela Modelo, or the Model School. As mentioned, during Porfirio Díaz's presidency (1884-1911), he implemented both major infrastructural and educational programs.
And in an effort to boost literacy rates in the country as well as experiment with European educational methods, numerous 'Escuelas Modelos,' were built throughout the country, including Pozos. (The city, in fact, was even known as Ciudad Porfirio Díaz at the time!)
Entry to the school-turned-museum costs just twenty pesos. And while non-Spanish speakers will be disappointed by the lack of English signage, the building itself is enough to warrant a visit.
Notably, this particular school happened to be one of the largest in the country, revealing what a thriving city Mineral de Pozos was in its heyday.
And as still evident today, a major component of the program was making the schools beautiful, with some of the top architects being assigned to the project.
Further West
All along the western outskirts of Mineral de Pozos are abandoned mines and haciendas. But as I'd soon learn, free exploration was out of the question.
I happened to run into the former expat resident I'd met earlier at Santa Brigida. Showing some other visitors around, it was her first time back in Pozos in a while. And the protective barbed wire barring visitors from much of the area was brand new, she told me.
Mina San Rafael
Whle I did see an opening to the former Mina San Rafael, a guard quickly told me that access was prohibited. And so I continued walking west, reaching the Ex-Hacienda El Triángulo. Apparently, this hacienda does occasionally open for visitors, but only from Friday to Sunday.
As it was closed on the day of my visit, I could only see it from afar, but it looks like a lot of fun to explore.
Ex-Hacienda El Triángulo
Further in the distance, I could just make out a small chapel atop a hill known as Cerro Pelon. Apparently, the hill is hikeable, but the journey is out of the question for those visiting Mineral de Pozos as a day trip.
As the road curved around to the north, I passed by more fascinating ghost haciendas on either side. But they were all blocked by barbed-wire fences, with 'Private Property - No Trespassing' signs placed for those who didn't get the hint.
Oddly, however, promotional signs encouraging visitors to freely explore and even bike around the ghost town were still in place.
As mentioned above, Mineral de Pozos is experiencing a lot of disputes over land between the local ejidos and the descendants of the original landowners.
Back in the 1920s during the Cristero War, which saw fighting between devout Catholics and secular reformists, the local town hall was burnt down during the turmoil. And with it, all of the documents pertaining to land ownership.
There's been a lot of confusion ever since, and it appears that private landowners are now trying to stake their claim.
But why now? It's not as if the mining industry is coming back any time soon. While I don't know the details of the local politics, one wonders if it has to do with the town's growing popularity as a tourism destination.
Whatever the case may be, from a tourist's perspective, free exploration is one of the main appeals of touring a ghost town. Needless to say, only being able to see this area from the road was a real letdown.
The Lavender Farm
Aside from all the abandoned sections of Mineral de Pozos, the town also happens to be home to an interesting attraction of a different nature: a lavender farm.
After a very long an exhausting day, I realized I'd have just enough time to get there before it closed at 17:00. But despite making the walk over and arriving at 16:30, I was disappointed to find the gate locked and no staff in sight.
Based on reviews, however, it doesn't seem like it's too much to write home about. And given all the other things to do and see around town, I would make the other landmarks mentioned above your main priority.
The first step to reaching Mineral de Pozos by public transport is getting to the city of San Luis de la Paz.
Once at the bus station, you can simply hop on a local bus that costs 20 pesos, with the ride lasting about twenty minutes. While I'm not sure of the timetable, they appear to depart relatively frequently.
You might not see the local bus when you first arrive, but wait around long enough and it should eventually appear. If you're unsure, ask a station staff member to point it out for you.
Coming From San Miguel de Allende
Despite San Miguel Allende and San Luis de la Paz being just an hour apart by car, no public transport exists between the two. If you're intent on getting there by bus, you'll have to transfer at Dolores Hidalgo, which would add an extra hour to the one-way journey.
Alternatively, you could consider a private tour such as this one.
Coming From Querétaro
Fortunately, for those coming from Querétaro, there is indeed a direct bus to San Luis de la Paz. Run by the Flecha Amarilla company, buses depart hourly at 40 minutes past the hour. At the time of writing, the one-way journey costs $130 MXN.
Getting Back to San Luis de la Paz From Mineral de Pozos
Finished with my explorations, I was looking for the same type of bus I'd ridden that morning to take me back to the city. But while locals told me buses to San Luis run until 18:30 or 19:00, I waited by the main road for over thirty minutes and no bus appeared.
I finally gave in and hailed the next taxi that passed. To my surprise and relief, however, it turned out to be a shared taxi and not a private one. And the ride to the bus station only cost me 25 pesos. Therefore, if you don't see any buses, just ask a taxi driver, but be sure to confirm the price before getting in.
I didn't stay in Mineral de Pozos myself but visited as a day trip from Querétaro. There are, however, several accommodation options in town. Just keep in mind that Mineral de Pozos is not exactly a budget-friendly destination!
When it comes to abandoned mining towns that are also Pueblos Mágicos, Real de Catorce in the state of San Luis Potosí is the much more famous of the two. But it's by far the more difficult to reach, regardless of which major city you're coming from.
As mentioned above, Mineral de Pozos can be reached as a day trip from either Querétaro or San Miguel. But to get to Real de Catorce from a big city like San Luis Potosí or Monterrey, it will take you most of the day just to get there. You'll also want at least two full days, and then you'll need another day to get back.
So if you're short on time, then Mineral de Pozos is undoubtedly the better option. But what are the main differences between the two?
All in all, Real de Catorce has a bit more to offer, as another major activity in the area is hiking Cerro El Quemado, which has long been sacred to the Huichol people.
But if you're a fan of abandoned mining towns, definitely visit both if you can!
Querétaro is a fast-growing city of over a million residents, with a charming, albeit small, historical center at its core. And as is the case with many Mexican cities of its size, the main bus terminal is quite far from the city center.
Wanting to experience the city while also using it as a base for day trips, I was debating whether to stay in the historical center or closer to the bus terminal. But in Querétaro's case, the main bus terminal is surrounded by highway overpasses and simply cannot be walked to (at least as far as I could tell).
That leaves the historical center area as the only logical option if you're visiting Querétaro as a tourist.
One of the top-rated hotels in the center is Hotel Hidalgo (around $40 USD per night plus tax). Those looking for something slightly cheaper may want to consider Hi Hotel Impala Queretaro, while there are also plenty of options on Airbnb.
No comments:
Post a Comment