Tlalpujahua

Looking over town from parish church

The town proper is small with only 3,704 residents (2005).[1] It is filled with stone paved streets which rise and fall markedly, with the rugged terrain it is built on. Along the streets there are houses with thick walls made of adobe and/or pink sandstone, topped with peaked roofs covered in red tile. A number has wooden balconies and other wood details and look like chalets. The houses are built this way due to the winter months which are cold and sometimes snowy.[2] (decarlan) Surrounding the town are rugged forested mountains.[2] In 2005, Tlalpujahua became the 20th town to be declared a Pueblo Mágico, as part of its efforts to attract tourism. However, it is still quiet with few traffic problems despite the narrow streets.[2][3][4]

Tlalpujahua's history is tied to mining, with the peak period for this activity spanning the very late 19th century to the 1930s, although mining had been done in this area since pre-Hispanic times. The major mine of the area was the Dos Estrellas Mine, which was established when a miner by the name of Nacho Ramírez found a rich vein, while employed by Frenchman Francois Joseph Fournier in 1898. This mine was the largest producer of gold, producing 45,000 kg (44 long tons; 50 short tons) of gold and 400,000 kg (394 long tons; 441 short tons) of silver. A major landslide caused damage to the mine in 1937.[5][6] Nationalization of the mine by President Cardenas in the 1930s led to decreased investment and modernization that was previously provided by its private French owners, and the government controlled mine closed in 1959, devastating the economy of the town. Today, the mine has been converted into a museum called the Museo Tecnológico Minero Siglo 19. The exhibits are housed in the mine's original buildings, almost all of which have been preserved.[2][6] The mine museum contains mining equipment and a collection of old photographs depicting the life and times of the area during its mining heyday, and is the first of its kind in Mexico.[2][5] Some of the buildings also hold workshops and other events and others have been left as they were, such as the old mechanics shop, which is claimed to be where parts of the first airplane made in Mexico were forged. The garden areas of the museum contain sculptures made with materials found in the mine in forms such as butterflies and erupting volcanoes. They were made by Gustavo Bernal, the director of the museum and the one to bring the museum into existence. The museum also has a bookshop and café.[5] http://www.museominadosestrellas.com.mx

Inside Casa de Santa Claus shop

Tlalpujahua is one of a number of former mining communities in this area, along with Angangueo and El Oro, Mexico State. What sets it apart is that it has become a major producer of Christmas tree ornaments, especially glass spheres.[7] The industry began with Joaquín Muñoz Orta, who left his hometown with his family in the 1950s to Chicago, where he worked at a factory making artificial Christmas trees. He returned to Mexico in the early 1960s, but since there was still no work in Tlalpujahua, he went to Mexico City where he set up a small Christmas tree workshop with his family. They initially sold the trees in places such as the La Merced Market, but soon after they began to offer blown glass Christmas tree ornaments as well. These were more popular than the trees. By the end of the decade, they decided to move their workshop home to Tlalpujahua, which has since become Adornos Navideños SA de CV. Today, the company has about 1,000 employees, five plants and fifteen workshops.[8] It is considered the largest such enterprise in Latin America,(esferas) and one of the five largest in the world.[8][9] Each year, the factory produces about 38 million spheres, 26 million of which are exported.[9]

Stand at the 2016 Feria de la Esfera

This is one of two established large factories in the town.[10] In addition, there are about 150 smaller workshops making various kinds of handcrafted Christmas decorations and most families in the area make them on the side at home.[8][11] Even with large-scale production, creation of the glass spheres is still mostly artisanal, including the blowing of the glass and painting. Handcrafted spheres are blown, usually by men. When cool, the glass spheres are usually taken to be covered in a silver nitrate or similar solution, to give them a metallic look. Colors vary and include red, pink, yellow, blue gold and pearl.[8][12] The classic ornaments are simple glass spheres but there are over a thousand different models available with shapes such as fruits, Santa Claus, pencils, dolls, snowmen, monkeys and many more.[10] Workshops in the area have over 300 standard designs for the sphere, which include hearts, stars, harlequins, flowers, comets and more. Most of the painters are women.[8][12] A number of the designs of the glass spheres are unique to the town.[9] The creation of these glass spheres have given the town a reputation.[3] Local authorities see the ornament industry as a way to stem emigration out of the area.[11] The industry employs about 10,000 people, and accounts for about 70% of the town's economy. As of 2015, there were about 200 workshops in town that produced more than 100 million ornaments per year.[13] From November to early December, the seat hosts an annual fair dedicated to Christmas decorations called the Arte Navideño. It exhibits ornaments, trees and other Christmas decorations.[3][10] About 5% of the ornaments are sold during the fair, 35% in the rest of Mexico and about 60% are exported to countries such as the US, Canada, Argentina, Japan and Malaysia.[13]

Facade of the Parish of San Pedro y San Pablo/Del Carmen Sanctuary

The main church of the town is alternately called the Parish of San Pedro y San Pablo or the Del Carmen Sanctuary/Temple.[12] The Santuario del Carmen was formerly dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. It was constructed in the first half of the 18th century, when mining in the area was good by Felipe Neri Valleza. It originally had rich Baroque ornamentation both inside and out. Today, one can still see the Baroque portal of two levels and a crest that forms a pinnacle. The levels are divided by paths which guard religious figures in its niches.[3][14] In 2009, outside lights were installed to illuminate the church as part of efforts to bring tourism to the town as a Pueblo Mágico.[6] The interior's original decoration, including its original five Baroque altars were destroyed and redone between 1858 and 1871. The last remodeling of the interior came in the late19th and very early 20th centuries. The project was sponsored by Father José María Galván and done by artisan Joaquín Orta Menchaca, using new techniques to sculpt flowers, other vegetative motifs, mouldings and more in plaster and ceramic on the walls of the church. All of these and the remaining flat spaces on the walls and ceiling were painted in various colors. This style has been repeated in the Church of San Francisco in Tlalpujahua and the Sanctuary of Guadalupe in Morelia. At first glance the work of Orta Menchaca looks to be a late version of Baroque, but it is really an eclectic style. It is considered to be an original work and a contribution to Mexican art.[3][4]

The church was originally dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. Today, the main altar has an image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel painted on a portion of an adobe wall flanked by images of Saints Peter and Paul. The Mount Carmel image comes from a former chapel dedicated to her, which was built in the 16th century by hacienda owner Juan Galindo. The image itself dates back at least to the 18th century. In 1937, a major landslide buried much of the town's principle blocks, and killed over 400 people.[14] All that can be seen from the buried area is the bell tower of the chapel. The wall on which the image was painted was also undamaged. According to local lore, the face of the image was also above the debris and the landslide stopped just short of the wall.[2] The salvation of the image was considered to be a miracle. This adobe wall was carefully cut away from the rest of the ruined building and moved to the parish church over 1.5 km away. The project was realized by the residents themselves with an estimated 12,000 taking part in some way.[14] In 1965, Our Lady of Mount Carmel was declared the patroness of the municipality and on 16 July, she is honored, bringing thousands to the church from in and around the municipality.[3][14]

The monastery of San Francisco was built in Baroque style in the 17th century. It was home to poet Manuel Martínez de Navarrete, who is exhibited in effigie in the central courtyard. The Santiago Puxtla Church was built in the 16th century and its fronted by a graveyard. It is a simple construction which originally was a church for the local indigenous. It is still used by locals and one of its main events is Day of the Dead.[3] The chapel of Señor Jesús del Monte is one of the oldest churches in the municipality. It contains a Christ image in “pasta de caña” (corn stalk paste), made using indigenous techniques.[2]

Municipal palace

The Casa de los López Rayón (Rayon House) is a museum dedicated to the town's mining past and the Rayon brothers’ role in the War of Independence. The museum was opened in 1973 and contains items such as photographs, machines, plans, utensils, helmets, archives and letters.[2] On 13 November, local schools participate in parades and theatrical depiection about the Lopez Rayon brothers, Ignacio, Francisco, José María and Ramón.[3][8]

The town's crafts and food are offered for sale, especially on Sunday, the weekly market day. Most craft items are related to Christmas, but other crafts such as locally made pre-Hispanic style feather work and items make of wood, brass, iron, stone and silver as well as pottery are available as well.[3][8][15] One local workshop called La Estanzuela produces high fire ceramics.[6] In the markets and restaurants in town popular dishes such as barbacoa, and “cabeza de res” (beef head), both traditionally cooked in adobe ovens, are available. Other common dishes include soups made with local mushrooms, preserved fruits and bread made with pulque, corundas, turkey in mole, pickled nopales and a sweet bread called pan de pucha.[3][9]

Since 2008, at the end of the October, it hosts the annual Festival Internacional de Cine Fantástico y de Terror Mórbido (International Festival of Fantasy and Morbid Terror Cinema). While movies and film are featured, there are also events related to local culture, workshops, seminars, music and dance. The films are from both Mexico and abroad, from classics of the 1950s to new films. The event is sponsored by a number of organizations including Instituto Mexicano de Cinematografía, the Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, the state of Michoacán and local authorities.[16] Tlalpujahua is host to the most important horror film festival in Mexico. The films are shown in a number of venues, including the town's old theatre and even inside an old mine.The festival gives young filmmakers a chance to show their work and have it voted on by attendees. The 2010 festival paid homage to the Cardona family, which has made over one hundred films, many of which were of the horror and suspense variety. (morbido)