San José Iturbide

San José Iturbide is a market town south of Mineral de Pozos, on the highway that links Querétaro with San Luis Potosí. It began as a congregation called Casas Viejas, where a church was established on February 5, 1754, and its present name honors both Saint Joseph and Agustín de Iturbide, the leader who completed Mexico's independence in 1821.

The town's great landmark is the Parroquia de San José, a monumental neoclassical church designed by the architect Ramón Rodríguez Arangoiti. Its construction began in the 1860s and stretched on for more than a century, and the result, with its tall columns and Corinthian capitals, is one of the most imposing churches in this part of Mexico, rising far above the low houses of the center.

San José Iturbide is also known for knitwear: making sweaters and other knitted goods has been a family trade here for generations, and shops around town sell them at good prices. With about 27,000 inhabitants, it is a pleasant, unhurried place to see a remarkable church and pick up a warm sweater for the cold highland nights.