Off the Beaten Path Traveling - Pozos Guanajuato Mexico
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Moore]Jennifer Moore
If you have never gone to Pozos Guanajuato and live or visit San Miguel de Allende Mx, then you definitely want to make a day trip to Mineral de Pozos Mexico. I recently took a trip out to Pozos Guanajuato, a small day trip about an hour from San Miguel de Allende Mx. I never really thought much of Mineral de Pozos, because its such a small dot on the map, but it is actually a very interesting little Mexican town.
While on our tour we learned what very few visitors know. We learned that Pozos Guanajuato was once a really wealthy mining town and had a population of more than 50,000 people in the 1700´s and 1800´s. It was founded mainly by foreigners, people from Italy, France and Spain. But when the mines were depleted, the town was literally abandoned in the 1920´s. So now these great limestone buildings stand in solace and beauty, like beacons calling out to something greater. Most have no roofs but the stone is in tack and the melting furnaces stand as they were once built.
These ruins of elegant, strong and statefull buildings are truly beautiful, something that comes out of movies, but are even more so when you start to talk to locals of the area. When I took the time to talk to the local people, they have some truly interesting stories to add to the relics. Apparently the very first University in Mexico was in Pozos Guanajuato. It was a school for gold smiths and silver smiths, founded in the 1700´s. The building now stands in ruins, but is a magnificent sample of architecture of the time, and really very large. It's a huge building that stands in the middle of nowhere, among cacti and brush.
On our trek we walked through the walled garden hotels, had lunch in the outdoor café, and then walked down to the park near the cathedral and started talking to two resident who were 103,and 105 years old respectively (brother and sister), possibly the oldest citizens in Pozos Guanajuato.
They told us some wonderful stories, about how the cathedral bell was once made of pure gold and for more than three hundred years, the bell would toll with a beautiful golden chime. But just recently in early 2000 government officials took the bell down for maintenance and sent it to Mexico City, from which it never returned. It was replaced with an iron bell, and the gold one disappeared. Some say it is at the ex-Presidents private rance (typical Mexican government).
There are many other small communities within Pozos Guanajuato where there are other mines. In one of these communities we talked with another old gentleman, the now care taker. This old gent was around 80 years old, and he said he was still one of the very last workers in the mines. When he was a child, he had carried stones out of the mine by wheelbarrow. He said he was about eight at the time. He told us that the restored hacienda that sat on the property had once belonged to Porfirio Diaz ( a very important Mexican revolutionary) who used the hacienda as a place to house his prisoners of war, and he made the prisoners work in the gold mines. It was a perfect way to fund a revolution.
Today the hacienda is being legally fought over. The original owner passed away, without leaving a will, or any descendants, so the property was possessed by another local under the "squatters law", who without any legal right says it is now his property. Of course after this happened, suddenly, nephews and nieces showed up for the original legal owner and now the property is being legally fought over. Who knows if any of this is true. It may just be local gossip, and fun to listen to these old legends.
What is known is that Pozos Guanajauto has become a popular place for foreigners. This is because property can be purchased cheaply. Pozos is becoming popular because it is a quaint, peaceful, and authentic old Mexican village, which has had very little changes over the centuries. The town has two beautiful hotels, a couple of restaurants, and about 50 foreign artists making their home here. It really is a quaint place to visit, just be sure to take sturdy walking shoes, because you may want to go down one of the mines. Be careful though, when we went down the lights went out for about 10 minutes. We had to stay exactly were we stood for that long. [http://www.mymexicoliving.com/]My Mexico Living specializes in living and traveling to Mexico tips for everyone. If you are interested in reading more information about traveling to Mexico - [http://www.mymexicoliving.com/]My Mexico Living
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Moore http://EzineArticles.com/?Off-the-Beaten-Path-Traveling---Pozos-Guanajuato-Mexico&id=1871657
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Moore]Jennifer Moore
If you have never gone to Pozos Guanajuato and live or visit San Miguel de Allende Mx, then you definitely want to make a day trip to Mineral de Pozos Mexico. I recently took a trip out to Pozos Guanajuato, a small day trip about an hour from San Miguel de Allende Mx. I never really thought much of Mineral de Pozos, because its such a small dot on the map, but it is actually a very interesting little Mexican town.
While on our tour we learned what very few visitors know. We learned that Pozos Guanajuato was once a really wealthy mining town and had a population of more than 50,000 people in the 1700´s and 1800´s. It was founded mainly by foreigners, people from Italy, France and Spain. But when the mines were depleted, the town was literally abandoned in the 1920´s. So now these great limestone buildings stand in solace and beauty, like beacons calling out to something greater. Most have no roofs but the stone is in tack and the melting furnaces stand as they were once built.
These ruins of elegant, strong and statefull buildings are truly beautiful, something that comes out of movies, but are even more so when you start to talk to locals of the area. When I took the time to talk to the local people, they have some truly interesting stories to add to the relics. Apparently the very first University in Mexico was in Pozos Guanajuato. It was a school for gold smiths and silver smiths, founded in the 1700´s. The building now stands in ruins, but is a magnificent sample of architecture of the time, and really very large. It's a huge building that stands in the middle of nowhere, among cacti and brush.
On our trek we walked through the walled garden hotels, had lunch in the outdoor café, and then walked down to the park near the cathedral and started talking to two resident who were 103,and 105 years old respectively (brother and sister), possibly the oldest citizens in Pozos Guanajuato.
They told us some wonderful stories, about how the cathedral bell was once made of pure gold and for more than three hundred years, the bell would toll with a beautiful golden chime. But just recently in early 2000 government officials took the bell down for maintenance and sent it to Mexico City, from which it never returned. It was replaced with an iron bell, and the gold one disappeared. Some say it is at the ex-Presidents private rance (typical Mexican government).
There are many other small communities within Pozos Guanajuato where there are other mines. In one of these communities we talked with another old gentleman, the now care taker. This old gent was around 80 years old, and he said he was still one of the very last workers in the mines. When he was a child, he had carried stones out of the mine by wheelbarrow. He said he was about eight at the time. He told us that the restored hacienda that sat on the property had once belonged to Porfirio Diaz ( a very important Mexican revolutionary) who used the hacienda as a place to house his prisoners of war, and he made the prisoners work in the gold mines. It was a perfect way to fund a revolution.
Today the hacienda is being legally fought over. The original owner passed away, without leaving a will, or any descendants, so the property was possessed by another local under the "squatters law", who without any legal right says it is now his property. Of course after this happened, suddenly, nephews and nieces showed up for the original legal owner and now the property is being legally fought over. Who knows if any of this is true. It may just be local gossip, and fun to listen to these old legends.
What is known is that Pozos Guanajauto has become a popular place for foreigners. This is because property can be purchased cheaply. Pozos is becoming popular because it is a quaint, peaceful, and authentic old Mexican village, which has had very little changes over the centuries. The town has two beautiful hotels, a couple of restaurants, and about 50 foreign artists making their home here. It really is a quaint place to visit, just be sure to take sturdy walking shoes, because you may want to go down one of the mines. Be careful though, when we went down the lights went out for about 10 minutes. We had to stay exactly were we stood for that long. [http://www.mymexicoliving.com/]My Mexico Living specializes in living and traveling to Mexico tips for everyone. If you are interested in reading more information about traveling to Mexico - [http://www.mymexicoliving.com/]My Mexico Living
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jennifer_Moore http://EzineArticles.com/?Off-the-Beaten-Path-Traveling---Pozos-Guanajuato-Mexico&id=1871657
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