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Querétaro, Witness to History
January 27, 2002
By GINGER THOMPSON
TRAVELERS have marveled at Querétaro ever since the 17th
century, when it was the third most important city under
Spanish rule. Built from the fortunes made in the silver
mines to the north, Querétaro's graceful plazas and baroque
chapels, preserved in much of their original splendor, were
settings for the rise and fall of colonial power in Mexico.
Now they offer a glimpse into Mexico's soul.
From the city's stone convents, which stretched deep into
the Sierra Gorda, Franciscan missionaries launched
methodical and brutal campaigns in the early 16th century
to force Indians into slavery and Christianity. Ignacio
Perez, a servant who became Mexico's Paul Revere, rode out
from this city in 1810 to warn the organizers of the War of
Independence that there was a plot to kill them. The last
Mexican emperor, Archduke Maximilian of Hapsburg, was
executed here in 1867 by firing squad. And in 1917 in the
stately Teatro de la República, members of the first
postrevolutionary Congress drafted the Mexican
Constitution.
Unlike Mexico's most popular beach resorts, Querétaro is a
perfect place for travelers seeking leisurely strolls and
stylish comfort, rather than water sports and two-for-one
margaritas. The narrow passageways through the center of
town are lined with high-end crafts shops and
homemade-candy stands. Live music fills cozy cafes. Casual
lunch counters, called loncherías, are packed with local
workers feasting on typical fried corn cakes, or gorditas.
And the plazas, draped with red and fuchsia bougainvillea,
feel like open-air museums.
"If you want to walk in history," one tour guide said,
"then this is a city that has worked hard to preserve it."
Its beauty and historical importance have been recognized:
Querétaro is a Unesco World Heritage Site. And during the
weeks before Christmas, typically a high tourist season in
Mexico because children are out of school and parents take
time off from work, streets and restaurants were full of
Mexican tourists. The city is an easy three-hour drive
northwest of Mexico City, from which there is convenient
bus service.
Hotel operators and restaurateurs said that the growing
number of factories on the outskirts of town drew business
travelers from the United States during the weekdays. But
they lamented that few vacationers from the States come to
Querétaro to relax.
One good way to start a visit is to take a trolley tour
through the colonial center of town. Tickets cost about
$1.50 and can be bought at the central tourism office on
Independence Plaza, also called Plaza de las Armas. There
are several tours each day beginning at 9 a.m. They are
offered in Spanish, but the guides - like many hotel
managers and waiters - speak some English.
Querétaro is the capital of the state of Querétaro, and was
temporarily declared the capital of the nation during the
United States invasion of 1847. This increasingly
industrial city was established in 1531 by a rare alliance
between a Spanish explorer, Hernán Pérez Bocanegra y
Córdoba, and an Otomí Indian ruler called Conin. Conin, who
went on to become the first governor of the state, was
baptized into the Catholic Church as Fernando de Tapia.
Legend describes a "battle without weapons," in which the
Indians and Spaniards were called to peace by visions of
the Apostle Santiago (St. James) holding a shining cross.
The city, formally known as Santiago de Querétaro, was
named for the apostle. And more than a century later, the
Convent of the Cross was erected on the site of the
legendary battle, called Sangremal Hill, which means "bad
blood." Some 30 seminarians still study in the dark,
austere cloisters. Stone and stucco interior patios are
sparsely adorned with statues of the convent's founding
priests, and one is filled with what looked like an
overgrown tumbleweed. The bush, cultivated by the convent's
first priests, grows thorns in the shape of a cross. The
convent, which guides say housed the first missionary
college in the Americas, later became a fortress for the
retreating Spanish army. Maximilian was jailed there until
his execution.
Shortly after becoming governor, Fernando de Tapia oversaw
the construction of the first religious building in the
city, the Convent of San Francisco. Today the sprawling
baroque structure houses the Museo de la Región, where the
most interesting exhibits explain the city's religious and
cultural background, influenced by Spanish settlers,
Indians and African slaves.
Signs of the power of the Catholic Church fill more than 40
churches and some 25 chapels in this city of 700,000. The
Church of Santa Rosa de Viterbo, its curling buttresses
painted to look like gray and white snail shells, is
perhaps the city's most extraordinary example of baroque
architecture. Guides said that the bug-eyed faces frowning
down from the columns were part of the architect's response
to criticism of his whimsical style.
Another architectural wonder of colonial Mexico is the
aqueduct, which was built in the 1730's to carry drinking
water to the city from almost 20 miles away after the river
that runs through the center of town became contaminated by
the rapidly growing population. The aqueduct, a Romanesque
structure with some arches that are almost 75 feet high,
provided water to some 70 private and public fountains
across Querétaro until the 1940's.
An elegant mansion that was home to Mexico's most beloved
heroine is now used as the central offices of the state
government. Doña Josefa Ortíz de Domínguez, known as La
Corregidora, was the wife of a former governor. Although
trapped in her mansion overlooking Independence Plaza, La
Corregidora was able to sneak a letter to her servant
Ignacio Perez warning Father Miguel Hidalgo, the father of
the Mexican War of Independence, of the plot to kill him.
Upon receiving the warning, the determined priest took up
arms and called Mexicans to fight for liberty.
And you might visit the Cerro de las Campanas, or Hill of
Bells, a half-hour's walk west of the town center, where
the hapless Emperor Maximilian gave up his empire and his
life. The hill's name comes from stories that said that the
rocks there chime like bells when banged together. Around
the small chapel at the top of the hill is a large green
park with playgrounds and an artificial lake. A towering
statue of former President Benito Juárez was erected there
in 1969.
Some of the finest hotels are as important to the city's
history as its convents and museums. Most notable among
them is the Casa de la Marquesa, built in the mid-1700's as
a home for the wife of Don Juan Antonio de Urrutia y Arana,
builder of the city's aqueduct. Legend has it that the real
inspiration for the urban castle was a beautiful Franciscan
nun, who asked the duke to build her the grandest house in
the city as a sign of the love he secretly professed for
her. Indeed, its Moorish-style stonework, ornate
chandeliers, split arched stairway and mosaic walls make it
the perfect place for a romantic retreat or a special
dinner. Its large guest rooms, with 25-foot ceilings, are
decorated with elegant antiques but have modern amenities.
About an hour's drive south, the town of Tequisquiapan is
an inexpensive spa with natural hot springs and hotels that
offer beauty and fitness services. Loosely translated, its
name means "place of cleansing water." A quiet, laid-back
place that so far draws few foreign tourists, it remains a
popular weekend getaway for residents of Mexico City. The
colonial town square was established by Spanish settlers,
and the many colonial mansions, with arches covered with
bougainvillea, give Tequisquiapan a village charm. The
square, a local meeting place on most weekends, is
surrounded by quaint cafes and gift shops. Local artisans
weave straw into gorgeous baskets, hats and seat cushions.
For those interested in ecology, Sierra Gorda, about 70
miles out of town, boasts the country's greatest
biodiversity; its 14 eco-systems range from semiarid desert
to mountain cloud forest. Stretching across the northern
part of the state, the Sierra Gorda rises 1,150 to 10,170
feet. Over 350 bird species have been identified in the
reserve; guides often take visitors to an area called El
Sotano de las Golondrinas for bird watching.
The five missions built by Father Junípero Serra across the
Sierra Gorda are considered gems of Mexican religious
architecture. The missions are a couple of hours by car
away from the city, and have been beautifully preserved,
still serving as churches for local residents.
Before he left the region to proselytize anew in the
Mexican state of Baja California, Father Serra remarked on
the beauty of Querétaro's landscape.</p
"In this place," he is reported to have said, "the land and
the skies sing to their creator."
GINGER THOMPSON is chief of the Mexico City bureau of The
Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/27/travel/QUERE.html?ex=1013051035&ei=1&en=c91507cb35ddc649
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