Zacatecas

The walk from the Hotel Mesón de Jobito where I’m staying to the Convento de San Francisco is only 15 minutes away but it’s a distance that spans centuries. The route takes me from the hotel built in the 1700s as a residence and then later used as an inn with donkeys, mules, and horses […]

This stew, a product of Mexico’s cattle ranches, originally utilized just about any part of the cow that was available, including the udders. It is a simple, tasty one-pot meal that reflects the lifestyle of the hard-working vaqueros, who often had to prepare their meals over a campfire. Ingredients 3 1/2 lbs. beef chuck, cut into 1″ […]

Though most of the town is lovely, it’s the historic section, dating back to when the town was founded in 1536 and centered around the Rafael Paez Garden, that creates a feel of wandering back into time. Rectangles of queso fresco, cheese made that morning from the milk of cows grazing on the ranches that surround Jerez, […]

As its name implies, this dish is traditionally served at weddings. The addition of chocolate makes it reminiscent of mole poblano, but the depth of flavor is achieved with far fewer ingredients. One reason for this is the use of whole spices, lightly toasted and ground, rather than powdered spices, which lose flavor quickly. Ingredients: 3 ancho […]

The word “zacatecano” used to describe a dish quite often indicates that it contains the combination of poblano chiles and cream. Ingredients: 12 corn tortillas vegetable oil as necessary 4 large poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded 1 cup Mexican crema, creme fraiche or heavy cream 1 cup crumbled queso fresco or farmer cheese 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped ½ […]

“Zacatecas is the town everyone wants to go back to,” a friend said to me when I mentioned that we were going there. If not quite true, at least I know what she meant. Zacatecas was the first town we stayed in the first time we came to Mexico, back in those days when we […]

I’ve often been asked, “Where’s the center of Mexico?”, and I’ve always deliberately fudged my reply, but is there a simple answer to this question? Well, perhaps not surprisingly, there isn’t! Several locations lay claim to being the center, but it’s all a question of definition. Does center mean “the point where the minimum distance […]

Several small towns in northern Mexico offer a welcome respite and interesting overnight stop for tourists bored by the long and monotonous stretches of desert driving on their way south. One such destination is Sombrerete, mid-way between the cities of Durango and Zacatecas. According to some, there was so much silver in this area that […]

Vanessa thought it would be the perfect vacation: a full week on Mexico’s Mayan Riviera, as the travel agent had called the Yucatan coast. The agent had suggested the small city of Campeche, stressing that it was a place not yet discovered by hordes of Americans, a pristine paradise a few hours south of Merida. […]

Two sites within an hour’s drive south of Zacatecas make it well worthwhile to linger at least an extra day when visiting this splendid colonial treasure, described in a previous Mexico Connect article. ( Zacatecas) The two sites in question are La Quemada (The Burnt) and Jerez (Sherry). La Quemada grew into the largest pre-Columbian settlement […]

We follow a meandering street that twists and turns like the best of any Medieval European city. But that, in a way, is what Zacatecas is. A soft dusk has settled over the cobblestone streets of Zacatecas and we can hear the sounds of the fountain in the small garden across from our hotel and […]

Zacatecas – a place to return to! Millions of Americans today look to the Mexican state of Zacatecas as their ancestral homeland. In this section, we focus on the fascinating state of Zacatecas, which supplied so much of the country’s wealth during colonial times. Main articles for this section: Zacatecas – A Labyrinth of Riches […]

Located just east of Zacatecas city, Guadalupe’s palm-fringed Jardín Juárez has the special charm found in so many Mexican towns. Here vendors sell the local crafts that this colonial town, founded in 1578, is famous for – including tooled leather belts and soft, pliant jackets along with large carved rustic furniture and wall hangings, newly woven […]

Millions of Americans today look to the Mexican state of Zacatecas as their ancestral homeland. But it is very difficult to locate historical information on Zacatecas in the English language media. As a result, many Zacatecanos know little or nothing about the region in which their ancestors lived for thousands of years. If you look […]

The state of Zacatecas, in the northwestern part of the central Mexican plateau, has been culturally significant since pre-Hispanic times, when it was one of the few holdouts not conquered by the Aztecs. The people of this area, which was part of the western Mexican region called La Gran Chichimeca by the Spaniards, remained autonomous […]

This very typical regional sweet, resembling milk fudge, is sold all over Zacatecas. It should be made several hours or a day ahead and covered with plastic wrap. Ingredients: 1 quart whole milk ½ pound of sugar 2-inch piece cinnamon stick obleas (see NOTE below) Preparation: Place the milk, sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan over […]

Three thousand years ago engineers in Persia devised an ingenious solution to one of mankind’s most serious problems in areas without rivers and lakes: how to get water from point A, where it abounds, to point B, where it is desperately needed. Today their invention is generally referred to by its Arabic names, qanat or foggara, also […]

Map of Zacatecas and Aguascalientes states: Zacatecas, Jerez, Fresnillo, Aguascalientes, Mexico The state of Zacatecas is in the region of North Mexico, along with the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Durango and Aguascalientes. The state has an area of 75,200 square kilometers and a population of 1.7 million (2017). The state […]

Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Colima, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México (State of), México City, D.F., Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo León, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatán, Zacatecas,

State Map Link The city of Zacatecas in northern Mexico is not only a veritable labyrinth of winding streets but also a fascinating labyrinth of artistic and cultural treasures. Built between hills and on steep slopes, Zacatecas (the name is derived from zacatl = grass and tecatl = people) is one of the few Mexican […]

The state of Zacatecas spans a territory of 75,040 square kilometers, covering a swath of the north-central plain of Mexico surrounded by mountain ranges. Zacatecas is bordered to the north by the state of Coahuila, to the east by San Luis Potosi, to the south and southeast by Jalisco and Aguascalientes, and to the west […]