One day the streets of this town could be bustling again…
International Living Postcards– your daily escape
Monday, Jan. 15, 2007
One of our favorite day trips when we were based in San Miguel de Allende–in Mexico’s central highlands–was to the nearby town of Pozos de Mineral, “mineral wells.”
Commonly referred to simply as “Pozos,” the town is located northeast of, and about a 45-minute drive from San Miguel.
This is high plains desert country: starkly beautiful at an altitude of 7,500 feet. Rough, rolling dunes of clumpy brown dirt, scrub grass, and rock accentuated by thorny cactus patches; mostly nopals but now and again, a majestic maguey. To the west the landscape slopes upward to a forbidding and desolate mountain ridge. Any minute, you expect to see a serape-draped Clint Eastwood come riding along on a thirsty steed.
The desert landscape is just the backdrop, however–the canvas on which a unique artwork in progress is playing out. For Pozos is a city of ruins. Everywhere you look, you see the remnants of what once were majestic structures. Arches, columns, adobe walls, steps. Outside of town, these ruins are even more imposing. To be here is to step back in time…
When Pozos was founded in 1576, it was blessed with the most-coveted riches of the earth. Rivers of gold and silver coursed deep beneath the cactus-studded hills. Quickly Pozos became one of the richest of Mexico’s colonial mining boomtowns. By 1890 Pozos was a flurry of activity. The stately dome of San Pedro Church overlooked a bustling central plaza. Up the hill, another plaza overflowed with goods on market days. Homes were built, and businesses thrived.
Then came the Mexican revolution. Everyone was caught up in it. Mineworkers took up arms and went off to fight. The wealthy elite had a stake in the outcome of the revolution as well. But try as they might, they no longer had the upper hand by way of manpower to manage the mines. A year of intense rain brought flooding that filled the mines with water, and closed them for good.
Further, historians say that somewhere around 1928, there was a falling out between the devout Catholics (the Cristeros) of Pozos and the new anticlerical federal government. After the Cristeros massacred an army force sent to defeat them, Pozos was basically forsaken. Its municipal charter was revoked, and its priests and leaders were imprisoned. There was a citywide riot, and fire destroyed all local records, including property deeds and titles.
In 1982 Pozos was proclaimed a national historical monument. Yet it is often described as a “ghost town,” which it’s not–about 2,200 people live here. It has the feel of a ghost town, however, because of those eerie ruins. This feel of a lost point in time is what defines Pozos. A New York Times writer described it as “a silent maze of shattered walls, towers, arches, galleries, massive roofless buildings, aqueducts and fallen masonry, all strung out across the bare slopes like some vast scene of medieval destruction.”
It is customary for Mexican presidents to create tourist attractions of their favorite locations in Mexico after leaving office, and it is rumored that former President Vincente Fox (a native of Gunajuato, the state where Pozos and San Miguel are located) has recently purchased thousands of acres of ranchland near Pozos. Will little Pozos be Fox’s legacy? Time will tell…and if so, this may be the next place to invest in Mexico’s colonial highlands. Stay tuned–I’ll have more for you on this opportunity in future Postcards.
Suzan Haskins
Latin America Insider, International Living
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P.S. To get up to speed on Pozos, consult the Pozos issue of Mexico Insider; if you’re not yet a subscriber you can become one here and get instant access to the Mexico Insider issues online. Click here for more info.
