Download all eight “Walking Tours,” books from Amazon.com; Barnes and Noble.com; or Kobo.com. Search William J. Conaway.
Walking Tour of Taxco de Alarcón
Copyright William J. Conaway, 2003 Derechos Reservados
Getting There
Getting to Taxco (Tahs-ko) by bus from the Terminal del Sur in Mexico City is easy. It’s 111 miles south of Mexico City, 50 miles south of Cuernavaca. There are busses every 30 minutes and they take 2-3 hours to get there.
The bus stop at Taxco is too far from the center of town to walk, so if you have a reservation in one of the top hotels take a taxi, or if you’re like me, on a budget, ride a minivan bus marked “Santa Prisca” or “Zocalo” to the center of town, Plaza Borda.
This city of 95,000 people, like Guanajuato, and the other Toledano cities (towns similar to Toledo, Spain) in Mexico, there is no place to park. If you brought your own car, park it at the hotel and leave it there until you’re ready to leave. The downtown area is very small and everything else is straight up and down, a warren of narrow alleys. The city is, don’t forget, 6,000 feet above sea level so take it slow. To see the nearby sights, however, a car is a good idea, whether it be your own or a hired taxi (hired for the day). There are busses that go everywhere for those of us on a budget.
The city itself sits directly over ancient mine tunnels that criss-cross all through the mountain that supports it. The center of town is the tree shaded Plaza Borda with the imposing twin-towered Santa Prisca Church on one side and silver shops and restaurants on all the others. Beside the church, deep in a crevice of the mountain is the market (where you can find the most inexpensive places to eat in town).
Taxco is the oldest mining region on the American continent, and one of México’s oldest population centers. A city nestled in the heart of a mountain.
Atachi, Lord of the Waters, is the name of the mountain where Taxco perches. A mountain that sits 5,758 feet above the tropical lowlands, which periodically attracts heavy rainfall. How apropos that Santa Prisca (Priscilla) is the traditional patron saint for protection against storms: guardian in the face of lightning and flood.
Taxco’s original Indian occupants were specialist in the art of stone carving. Nowhere else in México has such a variety of pre-Classical sculpture been found.
Three ancient mines, with wooden shoring still intact, have recently been discovered near Taxco at a place called Chichila. This proves that there was a far more advanced Indian mining industry here than had previously been thought. The most prized mineral by the Indians of Mesoamerica was cinnabar (vermilion) or ferrous oxide, the best, longest lasting red dye on the planet. This dye was an essential paint for religious ceremonies by all the various Indian groups throughout México.
Living and Writing in Mexico 
Leave a comment