Altar

Altar is the seat of its municipality in the Sonoran Desert, at about 420 meters, with 8,439 people in 2020. Upper Pima people lived here long before the Spanish arrived. On 16 March 1694 Father Eusebio Kino and Juan Mateo Mange reached the spot where the Magdalena River disappears underground, and Mange gave the place the name Altar.

In 1775 Captain Bernardo de Urrea founded the presidio of Santa Gertrudis de Altar here, later renamed Presidio de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Altar. In 1825 the municipality of Villa Figueroa was created, named for General José Figueroa, with Altar as its seat, and since 1932 the town has been called Villa de Altar. The parish church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, built in 1886, anchors the plaza and hosts the patron fiesta on December 11 and 12, with a street fair on the 12th; October 12 brings a regional fiesta as well.

Altar is one of the hottest places in Mexico: July highs average about 40 °C and 47.8 °C has been recorded, while December and January nights fall to around 4 °C, and the little rain comes mostly in July and August. Irrigated farming (wheat, safflower, cotton, industrial grapes) and cattle are the economy. Lately the town has also been called Altar de los Migrantes, since many Central Americans pass through on their way to the border, a little over an hour to the north.