Travelers with a passion for silver jewelry will naturally gravitate to Taxco, a colonial town famous for silverworks, especially jewelry. Located in northern Guerrero state, Taxco was once the most important mining region in the New World. Today, its streets paved with stones, huge colonial houses with balconies filled with colorful houses, small squares and silver workshops make Taxco one of the most popular places to visit in Mexico. Churches, such as Santa Prisca, offer great examples of baroque architecture. Holy Week is a good time to visit Taxco because of its All Souls processions where residents turn out to show their faith.
Taxco de Alarcón (usually referred to as simply Taxco) (Spanish About this sound ['tasko] (help·info)) is a small city and administrative center of a Taxco de Alarcón Municipality located in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Taxco is located in the north-central part of the state, 36 kilometres (22 miles) from the city of Iguala, 135 kilometres (84 miles) from the state capital of Chilpancingo and 170 kilometres (106 miles) southwest of Mexico City.
The city is heavily associated with silver, both with the mining of it and other metals and for the crafting of it into jewelry, silverware and other items. Today, mining is no longer a mainstay of the city's economy. The city's reputation for silverwork, along with its picturesque homes and surrounding landscapes, have made tourism the main economic activity.
History
The name Taxco is most likely derived from the Nahuatl place name Tlachco, which means "place of the ballgame." However, one interpretation has the name coming from the word tatzco which means "where the father of the water is," due to the high waterfall near the town center on Atatzin Mountain. "De Alarcón" is in honor of writer Juan Ruiz de Alarcón who was a native of the town. Like many municipalities in central Mexico, the municipality’s coat-of-arms is an Aztec glyph. This glyph is in the shape of a Mesoamerican ballcourt with rings, players and skulls, derived from the most likely source of Taxco’s name.
Before the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico, the indigenous community known as "Taxco" was not located where the modern city is now. The name referred to a village about ten kilometers to the south, which is now referred to as Taxco El Viejo (Old Taxco). In pre-Hispanic times, this village was the most important in the area as it was the seat of the Aztec governor who presided over tribute collection in the surrounding seven districts. The modern Spanish town of Taxco was founded by Hernán Cortés in an area previously known as Tetelcingo, because of the abundance of silver here.
Mining here began in the pre-Hispanic period with natives extracting a number of stones for decorative and ritual purposes. The Spanish discovered silver lodes here in around 1532, which started commercial silver mining in the area. Mining operations in the area during the early colonial period was carried out mostly by mining haciendas such as the Hacienda del Chorrillo and the Hacienda San Juan Bautista, established by Cortés or his warriors. In the mid 18th century, José de la Borda arrived to Taxco and started more modern operations in mines called Pedregal, El Coyote, San Ignacio and Cerro Perdido.
For most of the colonial period, the area was sparsely populated, including the town of Taxco itself. For this reason, it was governed as a dependency of Mexico City. When the modern state of Guerrero was created in 1850, Taxco was chosen to be the seat of the municipality of the same name. Since it was the only town of any size in the area, the town was taken a number of times during a number of different conflicts. During the Mexican War of Independence, it was taken by Hermenegildo Galeana in 1815. During the Reform Wars, it was taken by Porfirio Diaz in 1865. During the Mexican Revolution, it was taken by Jesus Moran and Margarito Giles in 1911, and occupied by Carranza’s forces in 1916.
Silversmithing was reinvigorated in Taxco by American William Spratling, who moved to the town in the 1920s, creating silver design workshops and exported items, mostly to the United States. With its fame for silversmithing, tourism became a major economic force in Taxco.
Taxco is a beautiful city in Mexico built on a hill in Guerrero. It is rich with old and new silver mines, it has narrow streets and hundreds of silver shops. If you are looking for a side trip that is the place to go. Taxco Mexico is renowned for its more than 200-year-old baroque-style church, the Santa Prisca Cathedral.
Get in
It is off the toll way but it is worth the drive, it is between Acapulco and Mexico City. There is regular bus service to the town from Cuernavaca by Estrella Blanca.
There are also buses there from Mexico City from the South Bus Station (Autobuses Central del Sur). A one-way ticket costs $195 pesos and they usually leave every few hours. $250 for the luxury bus which is once or twice a day. The ride is about 3 hours, twisty and sometimes stomach churning so take the luxury bus if possible. The bus will take you through very scenic mountain views and drop you off in the middle of the town. Since it is a mountain town, you can either walk uphill to the Zocolo (square) where many shops and the famous church are, take a taxi, or any bus that says "Zocalo".
Beware of the "tourist information" at the bus station who are just guys working for one of the local silver smiths who will offer to take you for a free combi-bus ride to their store and insist that they are the cheapest, the most authentic, etc. plus a tour of their "silver mine" which is really a fabricated cavern made to look like a silver mine. Prices are OK but not that great.
Suggestion : Don't buy anything until you have compared with stores downtown.
The last bus out of Taxco back to Mexico City is 8 p.m.
Reference:
1. touropia
2. wikipedia
3. wikitravel
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