Real de Catorce

History

For the Wixárika, this desert and its mountains are Wirikuta, sacred ground they have walked to from Nayarit, Jalisco, Durango and Zacatecas for generations. The Spanish town came late. A mining camp existed by 1772, and the richest veins were found around 1778, setting off a silver rush in a harsh, remote place. Its full name was Real de Minas de Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepción de Guadalupe de los Álamos de Catorce. Where the Catorce comes from is disputed: one tradition speaks of fourteen bandits who hid here, another of fourteen soldiers killed in an ambush.

By 1803 Real de Catorce ranked among the top silver producers in the world. The parish church went up between 1790 and 1817, and the town struck its own coins, including a rare 8 reales piece from 1811. At its late 19th-century peak it had a mint, a bullring and shops selling European goods, and the Ogarrio Tunnel opened in 1901.

Then flooding in the mines and the falling price of silver after 1900 emptied the town. A few families stayed on, sustained partly by the pilgrims who returned each year to honor Saint Francis. Tourism and film crews later brought it back to life, and in 2001 it was among the first places named a Pueblo Mágico.