Zacatecas
This colonial city, almost unknown
as a tourist destination until just a few years ago, is one of Mexico’s highest
(8,000 feet altitude). Built on the riches of local silver mines, it is home to
some of Mexico’s finest colonial buildings, including perhaps the most stunning
and magnificent cathedral in all of Mexico. Spanish conquistadores discovered
the rich lodes of silver in the surrounding mountains and just two years later,
in 1546, the initial settlement was proclaimed a city. The cathedral,
constructed of pink cantera stone and one of the ultimate expressions of
Mexican baroque architecture, was built between 1729 and 1752.
As the capital of the State of
Zacatecas (it lies to the north of Guadalajara and Jalisco), the city sports a
fine university and is surprisingly sophisticated for its size. Tours of the
local silver mines are available or one can simply wander through several
excellent museums, including the Pedro Coronel Museum housed in the San Luis
Gonzaga Jesuit College & Seminary (dating from the 17th
century). Exhibited here is one of the finest art collections in Mexico.
Coronel, a renowned Zacatecan artist, left his large collection of pre-Hispanic
artifacts (mostly from the State of Guerrero), as well as an important
collection of colonial, European, African, Greek and Oriental art, to his home
state. Displayed are marvelous African masks, Chinese and Japanese urns and
screens, a complete set of Goya’s “Disparates,” as well as works by Miro, Dali,
Picasso, Motherwell, Hogarth and Piranisi.
 The elaborate 19th
century Calderon Theater, southwest of the main plaza, is the centerpiece for
most of the city’s cultural events. The Francisco Goitia Museum (he was
Zacatecas’ most famous painter, considered to be the precursor of modern Mexican
art and the most Mexican of Mexican painters) exhibits his works and that of
other well-known Zacatecan artists. The Rafael Coronel Museum is one of the most
exciting in the country, not only because of the unusual nature of its contents,
but for the originality of the displays. Housed in the 16th century San
Francisco church, it’s an exquisite setting for Coronel’s collection of 5,000
Mexican masks and pre-Hispanic pottery. There’s a special hall for a creatively
displayed collection of marionettes from the famous Rosette Aranda Theater,
which once traveled throughout the country and was its main source of
entertainment.
 Side trips include to the Convent
of Guadalupe (four miles), and to Chicomostoc , an imposing fortress-like
pre-Hispanic ceremonial center set on a hill some 30 miles south of the city.
And 30 miles west is Jerez, a beautifully preserved colonial city founded in
1536. The horseshoe-shaped Hinojosa Theater, built seven years after the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln, is a replica of Washington, D.C.’s Ford
Theater. Jerez is the home of one of Mexico’s most distinguished poets, Ramon
Lopez Velarde.
Perhaps part of Zacatecas’ appeal
is its relative lack of tourists, which makes it a wonderful place to explore at
your leisure.
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