Amealco

History

The name comes from the Nahuatl Ameyalco, meaning at the spring. Amealco is counted among the oldest settlements in Querétaro: it was founded in 1538 by Fernando de Tapia, the Otomí leader also known as Conín, and Nicolás de San Luis Montañez, the same men tied to the founding of the state capital. The sanctuary of the Preciosa Sangre de Cristo goes back to the 16th or 17th century, and the former hacienda of San Nicolás de la Torre, dating from 1730, once covered a large stretch of the surrounding countryside.

In the early 19th century a group of French and Spanish entrepreneurs settled here and started a logging industry. At its height Amealco was one of the main suppliers of timber to Mexico City and also shipped wood to France and the United States. The large church of Santa María, with its neoclassical facade and altarpieces, was built at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.

The Otomí, or Hñähñu, communities around the town have kept their language, pottery, textiles, and the handmade dolls that became a national symbol of Mexican craft. Amealco was named a Pueblo Mágico in October 2018.