ZACATECAS
Zacatecas is celebrated for its enormous output of silver. It is an
inland State south of Durango and surrounded by Coahuila and San Luis
Potosí, Aguascalientes and Jalisco. The hilly country of the middle and
west is interspersed with wide valleys and deep gorges and ravines,
furnishing a variety of wild and beautiful scenery. It has long ranked
first in importance among the mining regions of Mexico. The State is
poorly watered, there being no large streams. Mining is the chief
industry, although agriculture is extensively and profitably carried on.
Zacatecas is a picturesque city lying in a deep gorge of the mountains
about three hundred miles northeast of the capital. It is called the
Jerusalem of Mexico. It has many churches, hospitals, a mint and good
schools and a literary institute founded in 1868. The first mine was
discovered in September, 1546. On July 1, 1818, it was estimated that
the total output of the mines since their discovery aggregated the
sum of seven hundred million dollars. These silver mines are steadily
producing an increased quantity of ore.
The city is reached by a steep slope from the railway station and the
narrow streets are wonderfully clean. Everywhere the little courtyards
are seen through open doorways. There are many market-places and the
central one has a great stone fountain around which at almost every
hour of the day may be seen women and children with great red earthen
jars and little gourd-shaped cups which they use to fill the jars.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL, ZACATECAS]
To see Zacatecas one must go down a steep side street to the beautiful
old church with its great façade of curved freestone and three unique
spires and the arcade covered with its double row of arches. Everything
glows with color--the sky, the frescoes, the flowers, the trees, the
gaily dressed people and the broad stone seats. The inner court of
the government patio is finished with a dado and frieze of blue and
yellow; the slender pillars in double columns between the arches of
the first and second floors are brilliant with stencilled wreaths of
flowers; the broad stone steps curving away to the upper galleries are
ornamented with pots of tropical plants. From a corner of one of these
galleries one sees a beautiful picture. The red sandstone towers of the
cathedral, with their artistic carving, are barbaric in splendor and
still harmonious. Against the sapphire sky their outlines are wonderful
and there is no end of novelty.
The low-topped houses and domed churches remind one of Palestine. Far
up on the mountain called “La Bufa” is the shrine which the Mexican
devotees visit to obtain remission of their sins, many of them scaling
the steep sides of the mountain upon their hands and knees as an
exceptional self-imposed penance. The people wear their peculiarly
picturesque garb and should it be Sunday and the band playing in
the plaza the moving throngs form a veritable kaleidoscopic scene,
wonderfully pleasing to the eye.
Water is comparatively scarce in Zacatecas. The fountains in the plaza
are always thronged with people and as early as four o’clock each
morning men and women of the poorer classes are at the fountain filling
their jars with water, which they sell to later arrivals at a centavo
for four gallons, the quantity a jar holds.
There are schools, hospitals and markets, the latter with their many
varieties of fruit unknown in other countries. Many of the vendors
spread shawls on the pavement and divide their articles into sundry
little piles, each of which is sold for one cent. These sometimes
consist of cooked articles, and many a passer-by gets a meal for that
sum. One market-place is devoted entirely to potteries.
[Illustration: FAÇADE OF CATHEDRAL.]
The principal interest of the people of Zacatecas is mining. Among the
public buildings is the Aduana, built of red sandstone with handsome
carving around the entrance and the yard. Then there is the new
public market, a fine theatre with pretty decorations and all modern
improvements. Close to the market is the Cathedral, built of red
stone, with a wonderful front on three sides magnificently carved. The
interior is equally rich. Toward the back of the theatre is the old
church and convent of Santo Domingo. This formerly was very large,
and the centre of the Inquisition, as were all the convents of the
Dominican Order almost everywhere. The portion forming the convent is
now the city prison; the old church and the chapter assembly-room still
belong to the order of Santo Domingo.
This church was the first one built in the State of Zacatecas and
was erected between 1560 and 1570. All that remains to show that
it belonged to the Inquisition under the Dominican Order is the
assembly-room or “Sala de Actas.” The decoration of the church is very
fine. The next place of interest is the church and convent of San
Francisco. The church is small and very poor; the front is of carved
stone, and the interior decoration appears to have been very rich in
former years. The convent now is almost in ruins, a small part being
used as a _meson_, another as a dwelling place for the poorer
class, a small piece as a brickyard, but by far the greater portion
has become dilapidated with age and neglect. The old convent of San
Augustin has been almost entirely turned into dwelling houses, but the
church, a very fine building, has been left entire, and belongs to the
Presbyterian missions.
Huge stone walls and mountain sides are everywhere, with patches of
green here and there, making up a picturesque combination.
[Illustration: STREET SCENE, ZACATECAS]
There are several silver mines in the vicinity of Zacatecas, some of
them exceedingly valuable. The principal mining districts in the State,
besides Zacatecas, are Fresnillo, Sombrerete, Chalchihuites, Nieves,
Piños, Mazapil, Ojo, Caliente and Mezquital del Oro. These furnish,
in addition to large quantities of gold and silver, copper, tin,
lead, iron, cobalt, antimony, cinnebar, arsenic, sulphur, and alum.
The products of these mines average yearly from five to six million
dollars, the mint coining five hundred thousand dollars per month.
This place is renowned for health, and no case of consumption was ever
known there.
Guadalupe, a suburb of nine thousand people some six miles distant, can
be reached by tramway. The cars, operated by the gravitation system,
start slowly but are soon whirling down the steep hills, passing by
the queer adobe houses, the track now crossing over a bridge beneath
which are seen droves of burros carrying the ore from the mines. Again,
through a gulch around some huge boulders or past the yawning mouth
of some mine, the magnificent views and the varied objects creating a
thousand vivid impressions.
The Cathedral of Guadalupe with its tiled dome and its beautiful
surroundings, presents a delightful appearance as one approaches
through the plaza planted thickly with roses and countless varieties
of flowers. Upon the altar are life-sized figures representing the
crucifixion, and in the background is a painting of the hill of
Calvary with the attending Roman soldiers and the Jews grouped around.
Attached to the cathedral is an art gallery containing many magnificent
paintings, the subjects drawn from the Holy Scriptures and in their
treatment showing the work of some master hand. The new chapel on
the north of the cathedral, the gift of a lady of great wealth, is
considered one of the finest in the world. The steps leading to the
altar are of onyx, only the rarest kind being used. The rail of the
altar is of solid silver, and the altar itself in parts is constructed
of solid silver and gold.
The remains of an old convent is occupied by a school. In this
institution there are over two hundred boys from the poorer classes
of Guadalupe and Zacatecas, who are being taught the trades of
wool-working and weaving, printing, bookbinding, carpentry, carriage
and car-building, blacksmithing, and shoemaking. The blankets made
here are equal in manufacture to any that might be bought either in
the States or in Europe. This school was awarded medals at the Paris
Exposition of 1887, and at the Exposition at Chicago, 1893, for
woollen and silk goods made on the premises. Music and the English
language are also important branches taught here. The establishment is
self-supporting and certainly is well worth visiting. This is the pet
institution of Governor Zarate, who manifests the deepest interest in
the progress of the pupils. He is an able executive and shows great
wisdom in the direction of the affairs of the State.
There is a new theatre, a magnificent hospital of rose-colored stone,
fitted with all the requirements of modern science; an elaborate system
of lighting; a school for girls, with ample grounds and all the latest
appliances known to educators; a science institute; a normal school
for boys and other public schools and improvements of importance to
the capital city. This policy has not been confined to the seat of
local government, however, as many useful improvements have been made
throughout the State, including new schools, city halls, public gardens
and markets. A word should be added in praise of the fine system of
education in Zacatecas. The State spends nearly three million dollars
in primary and higher public institutions. There are about twenty-five
thousand students with two thousand more in private schools maintained
by other individuals.
[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF GUADALUPE, ZACATECAS.]
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL, DURANGO.]
[Illustration: THEATRE, DURANGO.]