Pachuca

The Reloj Monumental—Monumental Clock

Independence square

Pachuca is center of one of the most important mining areas in Mexico, and for this reason, most of the city's attractions are based on the mining industry.[17] Many of these are located near Hidalgo Street, which is one of the oldest in Pachuca and runs alongside the arcade of the main plaza (Plaza de la Constitución) to Hidalgo Park. The oldest markets and houses are also located on this street, many of which are well-preserved.[18]

Reloj Monumental

The Monumental Clock of Pachuca is the icon of the city. Donated by Cornishman, Francis Rule,[12] it was built to commemorate the Centennial of Mexico's Independence, and was inaugurated on 15 September 1910 (Noche de Grito) .[2] The base of the Reloj was made originally for a kiosk but it was decided to put the clock here instead.[17] A group from the city had the idea for the clock, and they, along with Mexican embassador Jesús Zenil arranged to have the same company that built Big Ben, construct the inner workings. The outer monument portion is Mexican-made and was supervised by engineers Francisco Hernández and Luis Carreón. It is a tower with four parts in Neoclassic style, constructed of white “cantera” stone with a height of 40 meters. In the middle there are four sculpted faces of women done in marble by Carrara, which symbolise the Reform, Liberty, Independence and Constitution.[2]

Church and ex monastery of San Francisco

Church of San Francisco interior

Church and ex monastery of San Francisco

The Church and ex monastery of San Francisco were begun in 1596, and the church was completed c. 1660. The façade is in the colonial Spanish Baroque style. The interior conserves aspects of its 16th-century origins, including the groin vault. The church contains oil paintings by regionally well-known artists of the 18th century.[17] The sacristy has a beautiful ritual sinks in sculpted stone, one of which is decorated with Talavera tile from Puebla. It also has paintings depicting the genealogy and life of Francis of Assisi.[2][19]

The adjoining cloister was completed in 1604. It has not been a monastery for many years, and had a number of subsequent uses. It had greatly deteriorated, until recently restored to house the Centro Cultural Hidalgo.[2] Behind the church is the Chapel of Nuestra Señora de la Luz. Built between the 17th and 18th century, it contains the only Churrigueresque altar in the city. This altar also contains the remains of the Count of Regla, Pedro Romero de Terreros.[1][17][19]

The Museum of Photography and Photographic Library of INAH, and the Regional Museum, occupy much of the complex now.[17][19] The photography museum contains antique photography equipment as well as works by known photographers such as Guillermo Kahlo and Tina Modotti. To the east of the monastery complex is the Bartolomé de Medina Park. The City Theater and the School of Arts face the park.[19]

Asunción Church

The Asunción Church is the oldest in the city, constructed in 1553, and remodeled several times, with major reconstruction in 1719.[17][19] The Asunción Chapel has an entrance with two levels. The lower one contains the door and has a round arch, flanked by two pilasters and a Baroque architrave. The upper level has a choir window, with a niche above and topped by a pediment. The bell tower also has two levels, both with round arches.[2]

Hidalgo Bank—Bancomer building

Mercantil Bank—Bancomer Building

The Bancomer Building is located at the front of the main plaza. It was designed in the Neoclassical style, and built in 1902. It was first occupied by the Mercantil Bank, then by the Hidalgo Bank and then was converted into the Niágara Hotel. Today it has returned to being a bank. It has a notable façade of brown cantera stone, lightly sculpted, with a keystone in the form of a parchment, cornice, Ionic columns and geometric designed in the upper parts. It is topped by a pediment which contains the figure of a lion.[2]

Cajas Reales

The Cajas Reales was where miners paid a 20% share of their extractions to the Spanish Crown.[2] It not only collected the taxes, it was the only place that sold the mercury needed to extract silver from ore as a monopoly of the state.[19] It was constructed in the 17th century by viceroy Sebastián de Toledo Márquez Mancera. It is a two-story building with a central patio. The façade contains two towers that flank the main entrance and the north side to serve as guard stations for the building. It has housed the offices of the Compañía Real del Monte y Pachuca since 1850.[2][19] Emperor Maximillian I stayed here when he visited the city in 1865.[19]

Romanesque Revival style Methodist church

Methodist Church

The Methodist Church building was built in the early 20th century, and is distinguished by its locally rare Romanesque Revival style. It is considered an important building of the Cornish period in the state.

It remains a Protestant church and contains the Julián Villagrán School.[2]

Casa Colorado

The Casa Colorado, part of the hacienda of the Conde de Regla, was built in the 18th century. It has an austere façade of a reddish colour, which gives the house its name. The building formerly had an interior courtyard with a Gothic style cloister arcade, but was demolished when enclosed.

In 1886 Governor Francisco Cravioto acquired this building to house state judicial offices. The building served the judiciary through the mid-20th century. Many of the streets connecting from here to nearby Hidalgo Street are named after former notable lawyers and judges.[18]

Archivo Historico y Museo de Minería

Archivo Historico y Museo de Minería

The Archivo Historico y Museo de Minería—Historic Archive and Museum of Mining is located on Mina Street in a manor that dates from the 19th century, called the Cajas de San Rafael.[9] The mansion is constructed of cantera stone and occupies a space of 950m2.[9]

It contains documents that trace the history of mining here from 1556 to 1967, and the more than a billion ounces of silver and the five million ounces of gold that have been extracted from the state of Hidalgo during that time. The museum has three exhibition halls, a covered courtyard and a garden which contains mining machinery.[2] such as a steam shovel, a winch and a truck used for transport of ore.[19] The exhibition halls contain displays relating to how minerals are found in nature and the tools and processes used to extract them. It also houses a large collection of documents, a library and a photography laboratory. The documentation contained here was rescued starting in 1987. In 1993 the current site was renovated to house the collection. The collection also includes miners’ personal effects, as well as artworks relating to mining.[9]

Museo de Mineralogía

The Museo de Mineralogía—Museum of Mineralogy belongs to the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo. The mineralogy museum is housed in the old Hospital de San Juan de Dios. It was built and operated by monks until 1869, when the state converted the building into the Instituto Literario y Escuela de Artes y Oficios. The museum exhibits a large collection of mineral specimens from the region.[2][19]

Municipal Palace—Conde Rule House

Municipal Palace— Rule House

The Municipal Palace or Conde Rule House is located on Leandro Valle and Morelos streets. It is a two-story building constructed at the end of the 19th century. The main entrance is flanked by two pilasters and topped with a pediment decorated with reliefs made of shells.

It belonged to a rich Cornish miner by the name of Francis Rule, and later became the Municipal Palace.[2][19]

Archivo del Estado de Hidalgo

Macromural

Macromural of Pachuca

The macromural of Pachuta is located in the Palmitas suburb. It consists of an entire quarter on a hillside painted in colourful murals.

Other attractions

Formerly there was an English/Cornish neighborhood in the central part of Pachuca. The British Consulate is all that remains there, located in an "English style" residence built at the beginning of the 20th century.

Site of Hall of Fame of Football

The Mercado de Barreteros is on the Central Plaza, and considered one of the most valuable architectural elements in the city. The lower level is dedicated to services such as cafés, and the upper floor is dedicated to arts and crafts shops.[19] The Monument of Christ the King is located on the Santa Apolonia Mountain and is one of the largest in Mexico.[17]

The Archivo del Estado de Hidalgo—Museum of the State of Hidalgo located in the Civic Centre of the State Congress. Its collection focuses on the history of the state of Hidalgo, through archival photographs and documents. Its collection also includes national history items.
The Museo El Rehilete is an interactive museum for children with exhibits on archeology, botany, other sciences and the arts.[2]
The Sede del Salón de la Fama del Fútbol—Hall of Fame of Football is in the shape of a football, and located in Parque David Ben Gurion of the Zona Plateada district. The Universidad de Fútbol—Football University is the only training facility of its kind in the Americas, and one of only a few in the world.[3]

Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo Central Building

The Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo was constructed over the old Hospital de San Juan de Dios.[1] It is the oldest educational institution in Hidalgo, brought into being at the same time as the state. The school was originally established as the Instituto Literario y Escuela de Artes y Oficios (Literary Institute and School of Arts and Letters) in 1869. The school was initially in a rented house but was moved to the former Hospital of San Juan de Dios in 1875. This building is now the Central Building. The school was based on positivist philosophy and the University motto of “Amor, orden y progreso” ("love, order and progress") remains to this day. The school was renamed the Universidad de Hidalgo in 1925 and again to the Universidad Autónoma de Hidalgo in 1948. The university was reorganized and expanded in 1961.[20]

A more recently established school opened in 2003 is the Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca (Polytechnic University of Pachuca), which is mostly an engineering school. It was temporarily housed in the old Universidad Pedagógica Nacional buildings, but in 2004 the state of Hidalgo ceded the university the old Santa Barbara Hacienda, with 231 students studying classes in Mechatronics, Information technology and Biotechnology at the new facility. New programs of study in Physical Therapy, Software engineering, Optomechatronics, Information security, Information technologies and communications.[21]

Beginning in 1824, Cornish miners and English investors came to Pachuca and the neighboring town of Real del Monte to invest and work in the mines here. Some founded the Compañía Real de Monte y Pachuca.[15][22] Mexico's remaining Cornish community represents a largely forgotten immigrant story. In the early 19th century, miners in Cornwall were enduring economic hardships. Ships carrying 125 passengers and some 1,500 tons of equipment sailed out of Falmouth, Cornwall, landing in Veracruz three months later. The treacherous 500-kilometre (300 mi) trek inland killed about half of the miners and their family members, many succumbing to malaria and yellow fever. Those who made it settled in Pachuca and Real del Monte.

Old English-style house, in historic central Pachuca

The immigrants brought technology, notably the famous high-pressure steam pumping engines designed by Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick, which turned many of the area's water-logged mines into huge silver producers.[22] The majority of the immigrants to this region came from Cornish mining areas of Camborne, Redruth and Gwennap.[23] Cornish/English workers and their technology revitalized the silver industry here and miners’ remittances sent back home helped to build the Wesleyan Chapel in Redruth in the 1820s.

Historic center of Pachuca at dusk, with Monumental Clock

Architecture

Today the Pachuca – Real del Monte District retains much from its period of association with Cornwall and home of one of Mexico's most enduring cross cultural pollinations.[6][22] The miners' influence is obvious in architecture. Up in the hills around Pachuca, many houses feature distinctly British characteristics: thicker walls, square windows and pitched roofs.[22] Some of Pachuca's landmarks have English/Cornish influences. The Spanish Baroque style Reloj Monumental (Monumental Clock) chimes to the tune of Big Ben, and was financed by Francis Rule. The city's main Methodist church was built by Cornish miners. The English mining company's main office as well as the residence of Francis Rule of Camborne, the last Cornish manager of the Real del Monte mine, still bears his initials. The archives of the company are part of the "Historic Archive and Museum of Mining in Pachuca" (Museo de Minería) collections, and contain detailed records of Cornish employees, especially between 1824 and 1849.[6]

The Cornish immigrants married into Mexican families, and even today Cornish surnames are not uncommon in this area with hundreds of Cornish descendants present. One example is Umberto Skewes, who speaks little English but whose grandfather came to Mexico from Cornwall. Skewes is custodian of the English Cemetery, which contains approximately 600 graves, predominantly of Cornish miners and their families.[6][22] The Cornish-Mexican Cultural Society works to build educational links between Mexico and the United Kingdom.[22] The group has marketed Pachuca and Real del Monte as “Mexico’s Little Cornwall” through the Mexican embassy in London.[24]

Cornish and English miners introduced to Mexico such things as tennis, golf, rugby, cricket, and chess.[6][24][25] However the two introductions which have had the greatest influence on Pachuca's identity are football and pastes.[6]

In 1900 Cornish miners established the Pachuca Athletic Club, which was primarily dedicated to football. Their first game was played in the same year, a fact that is celebrated annually. The first team from Pachuca consisted of Charles Dawe, John Dawe, James Bennetts, John Bennetts, William Blamey, Richard Sobey, William Bragg, William Thomas, Percy Bunt, Lionel Bunt, Albert Pengelly and William Pengelly. The Pachuca club encouraged the formation of teams in Mexico City and Orizaba, the first championship of the new Liga Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación was played in 1902. Other clubs, such as the Reform Athletic Club, El British Club, F. C. and El México Cricket Club were also formed by miners. The first Mexican player appears in the ranks of the Pachuca club in 1908 and by 1915, most of the team was Mexican. Pachuca won the Copa Tower in 1908 and 1912, the precedent of the modern Mexican Cup. The team disbanded in the 1920s but was re-instituted in 1951.[6][26] Pachuca calls itself the “Cradle of Mexican Football.”[27]

Pastes for sale

The Mexican Spanish word “paste” (pronounced PAH-steh) come from the Cornish word pasties, which is basically a semi-circular turnover made with a pastry crust with sweet or savory fillings. Cornish miners brought the recipe with them as they made a good way to bring their midday meal with them to the mines. One feature of both pasties and pastes is that they have a thick braided edge. Originally, this was done to provide the miners a way to hold the turnover without getting the filled portion dirty, as there was no way to wash their hands before eating. The shape and pastry portion of the turnover have remained the same but today, the fillings are decidedly Mexican: mole verde, beans, mole rojo, chicken “tinga,” pineapple, rice pudding and one seasonal specialty is a lamb paste with poblano chili peppers. Pastes are a local delicacy strongly identified with both Pachuca and Real del Monte.[6][28]