The trouble with Zacatecas is that one visit never is enough. You are likely to depart with this feeling that you have not seen it all, that you need to go back. Mention some other city and the well-traveled are likely to say, “Been there, done that.” Zacatecas is different.
Once regarded as a remote and distant outpost, this tiny provincial capital boasts a discotheque in a mineshaft, what appears to be a ski lift to the top of a snowless mountain, two of the most unusual hotels in the republic -- including one that was once a bullring -- plus paintings by Picasso, Dali, Chagall, Miro and Goya in a local museum.
Actually, the city itself is one vast museum. Founded 450 years ago, Zacatecas overflows with monuments to the conspicuous consumption of the early silver barons.
Towering over the heart of Zacatecas is the Cathedral, every square centimeter of its pink stone facade carved in what is said to be the ultimate in Churriguesque. Legend (and Zacatecas abounds in legends) claims that the sculptor had been sentenced to death (the legend does not say why) but granted a reprieve until he completed carving the Cathedral’s facade. He made that project endure a lifetime.
For a stranger, Zacatecas can be a maze. Best way to get an overview is from the faux ski lift known locally as the teleférico. It only operates when the breezes are not blowing. Apparently those who sold the city on the scheme never mentioned windy days could be a problem.
Starting point for the teleférico is Bufa Hill, where Pancho Villa won his big victory in 1914, routing the troops of Victoriano Huerta. Guides tell the tale and hustle their charges through the Museo de la Toma de Zacatecas, a collection of old guns, old photographs and old newspapers.
One journal recounting Villa's triumph gives nearly as much play to an assassination in Europe; a Austrian archduke had been gunned down and dire consequences were predicted. That reference was to the First World War.
The teleférico takes only seven minutes to cross the city, arriving at El Grillo, a lesser hill, and the door to an elevator in a one-story building. The elevator goes down to a mine.
This silver mine was hewed out three or four centuries ago by workers using nothing more than picks and shovels. The shaft, which extends nearly two kilometers, all rocky and gloomy. Guides tell horror tales of flooding and walls caving in. A little train takes tourists in to see all this. At the end of the line the tunnel opens onto an underground chamber that becomes a discotheque on weekend evenings. The mine, it seems, might still be worked, but the disco brings in more money.
New hotels have been opening every year and now two more are planned. The Quinta Real, standing hard by the Spanish aqueduct with its 39 arches, is the hotel that once was a bull ring. Small, with only 49 rooms, but lavishly luxurious, the Quinta Real’s only difficulty is that it usually is booked solid. Those who cannot find space at the Quinta Real or prefer not to pay its prices (el Mesón de Jobito, a former tenement but now quite enticing, charges only about half as much) may still enjoy a meal there, although with so many new restaurants now open, it no longer can boast the best kitchen in Zacatecas.
Double-decker sightseeing buses and an ersatz tram provide a good way to get a feel for the city and discover where the museums are.
Those paintings by Picasso, Chagall, Joan Miro and Salvador Dali are on view at the Pedro Coronel Museum. Coronel (1921 - 1985), a noted Zacatecas painter and sculptor, established his museum in an 18th century Jesuit school to had been converted into a jail, but rather than immodestly display his own works in it he used the place to house treasures picked up during travels around the world. Along with the European masters, the collection includes centuries-old English prints, Hindu erotica and idols from the South Seas.
Not to be outdone, Coronel's brother, Rafael (1931 - ), now has his own museum displaying an eclectic collection of masks, four thousand of them on view in what had been an abandoned monastery. Along with these magnificent masks -- used in religious rites in many parts of the country -- it also includes a remarkable collection of puppets.
As for the works of the Coronel brothers themselves, they are best seen at what had been the residence of the governor and is now the Francisco Goitia Museum which includes among its exhibits works by Goitia (1882 - 1960) and other local artists. Then there is the National Museum of Abstract Art, the Museum of Vicergal Art in Guadalupe, and more. This is why you can never see it all in one trip.
Getting there:
By car, the jaunt to Zacatecas will take a full day, going either via San Luis Potosi or Leon and Aguascalientes over toll roads. Omnibus de Mexico (www.odm.com.mx) offers several Primera class departures daily from the Northern Terminal in Mexico City; the trip takes eight hours. Mexicana and Aeromar both offer several flights daily between Mexico City and Zacatecas.
Where to stay:
Zacatecas has an almost endless supply of hotels, although not of hotel rooms. Most inns are small The three listed here are simply extra special.
Quinta Real has just 49rooms looking out on what a bullring. Operated by perhaps the most stylish chain in Mexico, this is by far the most expensive hotel in town but, for those who can afford it, worth the extra price. Tel. (492) 922 9104.
Meson de Jobito, close to everything, once was a tenement, now offers luxury and charm, with an emphasis on service. Tel. (01-800) 021 0040
Emporio, across the street from the Cathedral and Government Palace, is about as centrally located as a hotel can get. Tel. (01-800) 227 2272.
Where to dine: The hotels mentioned above all are noted for their cuisine. A few other places of note…
Acropolis, in the former public market – now a mall of sorts – next to the Cathedral, Acropolis is a traditional provincial coffee shop where everyone in town seems to gather.
La Cuija, in the same building but on the other side at on Calle Tacuba. Local specialties include asado de boda and chile marquesa.
La Leyenda, Segundo de Matamoros 216, downtown, one of the classics in Zacatecas.
After dark:
Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are when La Mina disco is opened – as are many others -- and most of the frolicking takes place. A good way to begin an evening is by joining a Callejoneada, ambling through the streets of the historic center accompanied by a band and a donkey laden down with bottles of mescal.
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