Sierra Gorda Part 2: The baroque exterior of Misión Jalpan

 

 Jalpan's Franciscan mission church, viewed over its atrium wall. This was the first of five churches constructed between 1750-60, under the direction of Junipero Serra. He was a Franciscan friar who arrived in Jalpan in 1750. The five churches are each attached to a former Franciscan mission in various valleys scattered throughout the Sierra Gorda. The overall design of each of the churches is quite similar. This indicates that they may have all been constructed by the same team of builders, indigenous Pame under the supervision of Franciscan friars.

For example, each has a single bell tower on the left side and each has an elaborate facade. The facades all have niches resembling retablos found behind church altars. All the facades were done in the New Spanish Baroque style, sometimes called the mestizo Baroque. Finally, all the churches overlook large atriums with atrial crosses in their centers. However, each also has many unique features, particularly in the decorations found on the facades and in the interiors. 

In this posting, we'll take a look at the exterior of Jalpan's church. In my next posting, we'll walk through the interior. For a map showing how to get to Jalpan from the Lake Chapala/Guadalajara area, please go to Part 1 of this series.

Overview

Map of the Sierra Gorda area showing the locations of the five missions. Jalpan is located just below and to the left of center.  Landa, the pueblo with the 2nd mission, is about 20 km (12.4 mi) east of Jalpan on Hwy 120. About 10.7 km (7 mi) further along on Hwy 120, you reach the pueblo of La Lagunita. Turn rigth there on the road to Tilaco, where the the 3rd mission is located. 

After visiting Tilaco, head back to La Laguinta and turn right on Hwy 120. Travel about 5 km (3 mi) to a Pemex gas station where you make a left on Hwy190. The pueblo of Tancoyol, site of the 4th mission, is 23.6 km (14.6 mi) from the intersection with the Pemex. To reach the Misión San Miguel Concá, take Hwy 69 from Jalpan northwest about 40 km (25 mi). Turn left at the highway sign for Concá. Take your time on these short journeys because the countryside along the way is gorgeous.

Santuario del Santo Niño de la Mezclita (exterior)

The formal name of the church is Sanctuario del Santo Niño de Mezclita.  In the photo above, you see the complexity of the facade. The church was built to serve the Misión Santiago Jalpan. In addition to the church, the mission complex includes an atrium, a cloister, and a chapel annex attached to the church's right side. This facade is designed to imitate a retablo, which is a large structure often found behind an altar. Like a retablo, the facade has niches for statues. There are two on either side of the facade and each of these is framed by a pair of large pilasters (decorative columns). Two smaller statues stand in niches beside the door. 

The facade was created using stucco and stone work. The pilasters are of an ocher color, while the rest is yellow. As is typical with the Baroque style, virtually every square inch is decorated, mostly by carvings of plants and animals native to the Sierra Gorda region. At the top of the facade is a large niche containing a clock. However, this niche originally contained a statue of the Virgin. According to one story, the statue was confiscated by a passing general and later replaced by the clock. 

The dome covers the area inside the church directly in front of the altar. It has an octagonal shape with a small cupola on top. Mexican colonial churches were generally constructed as a cruciform (in the shape of a cross). The long, rectangular central room, called the nave, has an entrance at one end and the main altar at the other. It is crossed by an area called the transept, which has an altar at each end. The dome covers the area inside the church where the transept and nave intersect. It has windows on each of the octagonal sides to provide light to illuminate the designs and paintings on the inside of the dome.

Sanctuario del Santo Niño de Mezclita gets its name from a small statue of the Santo Niño (Holy Child) that was created at the beginnng of the 20th century. It passed through several hands and eventually became the property of Antonio Velasquez who lived in the pueblo of Mezclita, to the south of Jalpan de Serra. He donated the statue to the Parroquia de Santiago de Jalpan de Serra. After the church had been secularize (taken away from the Franciscans) in 1770, it became the parroquia (parish church) of Jalpan.  In the following years, miracles were attributed to the Santo Niño and it became venerated. 

The campanario, or bell tower, has two levels and several bells. The lower level has openings for eight bells, but some of them have been filled in. The upper has the capacity for six bells, but none can be seen in this photo. Today, many churches use recordings of bells that are broadcast with loudspeakers. However, the bell shown above is still rung by pullng on the hand ropes draped down the side of the church. The openings for the bells are framed by Solomonic columns, another feature of the Baroque style.

The use of bells to call people to worship was established early in the Christian era. At first, handheld bells were employed but, around 400 AD, Bishop Paulinus of Campania introduced the idea of hanging  bells in churches. The Spanish word for bell is campana and the bell towers in Mexican churches are called campanarios. 

By 750 AD, church bells were common and priests were ordered to ring them at particular times. A set of rules for the use of bells was established by 1000 AD. Over the centuries church bells were used to sound the time of day, as well as to announce religious events, deaths, attacks by enemies, fires and other impending disasters. 

Two visitors walk hand-in-hand through the main entrance. On either side of the door are small statues standing in niches with pointed moorish arches. On the left is San Pedro (St. Peter) and to the right is San Pablo (St. Paul). San Pedro was one of the Twelve Apostles and became the first Bishop of Rome. San Pablo came a bit later. He was one of the most important Apostles, although he was not one of the original twelve. San Pablo is purported to be the author of 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament. 

The arch above the door is scalloped like a shell. This is a reference to a legend about Santiago (St. James), another of the original Twelve Apostles and the saint to whom the mission is dedicated. One version of the legend is that, after Santiago was martyred in Jerusalem in 44 AD, his body was returned to Spain where he had been evangelizing. The ship was caught in a storm off the Spanish coast and Santiago's body was lost overboard. When it washed up on the shore, the body was miraculously intact but covered with the scallop shells. Pilgrims still wear scallop shells when visiting his shrine in Compostela, Spain.

The niche on the lower left of the facade contains a statue of Santo Domingo. I found this a bit odd, since St. Dominic was the founder of the Dominican Order, one of the rivals of the Franciscans. Notice the incredibly complex floral carvings that surround the statue and its pilasters. In addition to copying native flora, local fauna was sometimes used as well. These included jaguars and rabbits, which had been sacred to the indigenous people far back into pre-hispanic times. This was a deliberate strategy of Junipero Serra, who wanted to appeal to the natives by using their symbols in Christian contexts.

Santo Domingo was born in 1170 in Caleruega, Spain. His parents were well-to-do and his maternal uncle was an archbishop. He was named after St. Dominic of Silos and was well-educated in religious schools, becoming a priest at age 24. In 1208, he had a vision of the Virgin Mary in which she gave him a rosary. As a result, he became responsible for the spread of the use of the rosary. Dominic founded the Dominican Order in 1216 as a way of addressing the spiritual needs of the 13th century's growing cities. He died at the age of 51 and was canonized in 1267. 

A statue of San Francisco stands in a niche on the lower right side. Like the niches for San Pedro and San Pablo, those containing Santo Domingo and San Francisco also were designed with moorish pointed arches. The Muslim Moors, who invaded Spain in 711 AD and were not driven out until 1492, had a profound influence on Spanish Christian culture, particularly its architecture. After Christopher Columbus discovered the New World the same year as the final defeat of the Spanish Moors, their cultural influences were brought to Nueva España.

The Baroque artistic style, which flourished in the 17th and early 18th centuries, was very different from what preceded and followed it. Rather than appealing to the intellect, Baroque appealed to the emotions. It also was used with great theatricality to convey messages of power. Perhaps this is why I often feel attracted but also overwhelmed when confronted with something like these Franciscan facades. Baroque is very warm and florid, as opposed the the Neo-Classic style, which I find somewhat cold and severe.

On the upper left of the facade is a statue of the Virgen de Guadalupe. Above her head is a smaller version of the scalloped arch over the church door. The Virgen de Guadalupe was the first apparition of the Virgin in the New World. The person who interacted with her was a Christianized Aztec named Juan Diego. He encountered her in the ruins of a temple of the earth goddess Tonantzin. This apparition of the Virgin was dark skinned like a native and spoke to Juan Diego in Nahuatl, the Aztec language. 

All this made the encounter very controversial. The Franciscans asserted that it was a scam to allow the natives to continue to worship pagan gods. However, the Virgen de Guadalupe became enormously popular and her veneration spread like wildfire. The Franciscans remained bitterly opposed to recognizing her as legitimate, but the Dominicans and Augustinians supported her, because of the great increase in converts. The controversy raged for a hundred years before she was fully accepted by the Church. The issue had obviously been settled by the time Junipero Serra built this church.

Nuestra Señora del Pilar stands in a niche on the facade's upper right side. There are a great many stories about miraculous appearances by the Virgin Mary. Nuestra Señora del Pilar is unique because she was the first of these apparitions that occurred over the next couple of millennia. In addition, it supposedly happened in Spain while Mary was still alive and thousands of miles away in Jerusalem. The statue above shows the Virgin wearing a crown while standing on a pillar and holding the infant Jesus. This is an excellent example of how Baroque architecture was used for story-telling. 

This incident is said to have occurred at Zaragoza, Spain, in 40 AD. Santiago was evangelizing there at the time, but was having little success and was very discouraged. While he was praying on the bank of the Ebro river, Mary suddenly appeared, standing on a pillar and accompanied by thousands of angels. She came to console and encourage him and, thus inspired, Santiago continued his work until he was later called back to Jerusalem and martyred. 

Detail of one of the pilasters on the facade. Baroque designs typically are heavily populated not only with plants and animals, but also with human faces and the figures of cherubs. On the pilaster, the oval space in the center contains a semi-nude figure holding a staff and draped with a cloth. Above this figure is the head and upper torso of another human figure. Plants appear to grow out of his shoulders and head. Leafy plants seem to writhe all about, covering every inch of space. With Baroque designs, the more closely you look, the more intricate the design become. 

Pilasters are decorative architectural features that imitate load-bearing columns, although they sometimes bear part of the load. They date back to Classical Greek and Roman architecture, but fell out of fashion for about a thousand years until the style was revived during the Renaissance. Highly decorated pilasters are a feature of Baroque architecture.

This completes Part 2 of my Sierra Gorda series. In Part 3, we will view the interior of Sanctuario del Santo Niño de Mezclita.  I hope you have enjoyed this posting. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

 

Sierra Gorda Part 1: The Magic Pueblo of Jalpan de Serra

Padre Junipero Serra oversaw the construction of Jalpan's church. The word Jalpan comes from the Nahuatl language and means "place over sand". Serra was added in 1976 in honor of Padre Junipero Serra. He was a Franciscan friar who made a series of extraordinary 18th century journeys to evangelize the natives and to build missions among them in Nueva España (Mexico). He reformed some existing missions and built others in the Sierra Gorda region. Later, he led expeditions to the Baja Peninsula and up into California, founding missions as he went. Junipero Serra was canonized by Pope Francis in 2015. 

This posting begins a multi-part series on the Sierra Gorda ("Fat Mountains"), a remote region in the northern part of the state of Querétaro that is seldom visited by foreigners. However, there is much to see, including beautiful countryside, gorgeous Franciscan missions, and ancient Huasteca ruins. Our trip to the area also included stops in Querétaro, where we visited its Museo Regional and the Magic Pueblo of Peña de Bernal. 

Overview

There are several possible routes to Jalpan de Sierra. We chose this one because it kept us on high speed autopistas (toll roads) for most of the journey. Total driving time is a little over 8 hours, so we decided to stop  for the night in Querétaro to break up the trip. This had several advantages. 

First, this enabled us to visit the Querétaro's Museo Regional, which has an extensive collection of pre-hispanic and colonial artifacts from the area. Second, the leg of the journey from there to Jalpan would take us through some very scenic mountains and we wanted to see them in daylight. Finally, driving at night, after a whole day on the road, could lead to an accident. Such an unfortunate event would be very problematic in this remote area. For a Google interactive map of our route, click here.

The mountains of the Sierra Gorda looked fairly gentle as we approached. What we didn't know was that the whole area beyond this initial range is full of steep mountains, interspersed with numerous deep valleys. The Sierra Gorda isn't just a single range, but a jumble of peaks that continue on and on until you finally drop down into the low country along the Gulf Coast. The soil in the foreground is probably very fertile, because of the volcanic nature of some of the mountains in the area.

The environment on the western side of the range is a very dry high desert. This is caused by a "rain shadow", which occurs when the clouds from the Gulf of Mexico hit the eastern part of the mountains. There, they drop their load of rain, leaving the western side parched. In the photo above, I was looking west, back toward the narrow, two-lane blacktop road that we had just traveled.

The Sierra Gorda is part of the Sierra Madre Oriente, a huge chain of mountains that run from northeastern Mexico to the southwest. Much of the area is Huasteca Karst. This easily-eroded limestone creates sotános (pit caves) and other unusual formations. In addition to the sotános, there are caverns that extend for hundreds of meters. The elevations in these mountains range from 300m to 3,100m (984ft to 10,170ft).

Toward the east, you can see the road we will follow to Jalpan. It cuts across the base of the volcanic knob on the left. This shot should give you a feel for the wild remoteness of this area. To travel on foot or by horse along difficult, rocky, mountain trails would be arduous and slow. But that is how the early Spanish soldiers, friars, and colonists traveled during the colonial era and early 19th century. It is easy to understand why the non-indigenous population remained very low for centuries.

In the rain shadow of the west side, the conditions are dry and the vegetation includes a variety of cacti and scrub brush. East of the shadow, forests prevail with conifers and oaks in the high elevations and deciduous forest lower down and semi-jungle in the lowest areas. Animals abound, but several species are endangered due to human activity. These include the jaguar, puma, black bear, green parrot, Veracruz partridge, and Humboldt butterfly. Droughts due to climate change have increased the danger to plant and animal life.

When you cross the edge of the rain shadow, the view changes. Suddenly, coming around a bend in the road, you leave the high desert and a heavily forested vista spreads out into the distance. As you drop down to lower elevations, the vegetation becomes a semi-jungle. From the cool dryness of the high desert, you move into a humid, almost tropical climate. This surprised me, because I had expected that such a mountainous area would be cooler and dryer. As it turned out, Jalpan's altitude is 760m (2,490ft), about half that of Ajijic, where I live.

The climate varies widely in the Sierra Gorda and, like most of Mexico, depends upon elevation. The cold season comes in December and January with an average temperature of 13C (55F). The hottest average temperatures (24C or 75F) occur in April and May. However, once again, the actual temperatures and level of humidity depend upon your altitude and whether you are in or out of the rain shadow.

Jardín Principal

Jalpan's plaza is called the Jardín Principal. Facing it is the church of the former Franciscan mission, built by Junipero Serra and called Sanctuario del Santo Niño de la Mezclita (Sanctuary of the Holy Child of Mezclita). How it got that name is an interesting story that I'll tell in a subsequent posting. In front of the church entrance is a broad open area bounded by a wall with three gates. The one above is the main gate. The enclosed space is called an atrium and in its center is an atrial cross. Church atriums are used for outdoor ceremonies and processions. In colonial times mass conversions of native people were conducted there.

Jalpan de Serra is the cabecera municipal (county seat) of the municipio (county) with the same name. It was an indigenous Pame village in pre-hispanic times. In 1521, after the fall of the Aztecs, Hernán Cortéz was granted an ecomienda (the right to demand tribute and free labor) for the area around Jalpan. When another conquistador, Nuñez de Guzman, passed through the general area a few years later, he claimed the Sierra Gorda as part of the colonial province he was seeking to form. However, the difficult terrain and fierce resistance by the native population inhibited settlement for decades. 

As with most Mexican plazas, the center of Jardín Principal has a kiosco.  The structure is used for concerts, public speaking, and seasonal events. This version was built in 2005, but kioscos began appearing in Mexican plazas during the colonial period. Plazas in Mexico are nearly all of the same design, and Jalpan is no exception. A plaza forms the center of town, with a church, government offices, and commercial establishments surrounding it. The grid of streets extend out from this central point. The pattern was established by a decree of Spanish King Phillip II (1527-98).

Augustinian friars arrived in the Sierra Gorda in 1537. For a number of years, they attempted to evangelize the native Pames, but had little success. After a Spaniard named Francisco Barrón was granted an encomienda over Jalpan and its tributary pueblos in 1538, Spanish settlers and mineral prospectors began to arrive. In 1542, fierce nomadic warriors known as the Chichimecas began to attack. These tribes were extremely hostile to any incursions within their territories and the Spanish arrival was rightly seen as a threat by them. 

Two young women leaning on the railing are transfixed by their smartphones. The scene on this kiosco would be immediately understood by people all over the world. While the designs of Mexican kioscos share a general similarity, each one is different in its details. The cast iron pillars and wrought iron railings on this one lend a certain lacy delicacy to the structure. Kioscos provide spaces that are slightly above, but still a part of, the general scene in the plaza.

Chichimeca is a generic name covering a number of different nomadic tribes in north-central Mexico. The tribesmen had a long history of conflict with settled people, dating back at least to the Classic pre-hispanic period. In the Sierra Gorda, these people include the Pames and the Jonaz. The Pames were the least agressive, but they were provoked to violence in 1542 when Spanish settlers abused them and seized their land. In 1550, the Chichimeca War erupted throughout north-central Mexico and continued for the next 40 years. The warriors knew their ground and were extremely skilled at raiding and ambushes. 

Hotel Misión Jalpan

Our hotel faced the Jardín on its north side. Hotel Misión Jalpan is modern, comfortable, and moderately priced. There was no parking lot, but street parking was plentiful and safe. While there are rooms with balcony views of the plaza, we chose one that faced onto the hotel's patio. This is our usual practice, since street-facing hotel rooms can sometimes be noisy. The beige building in the next bloc is the Museo Historico de la Sierra Gorda. It was originally built as a fort to protect the mission and later became a prison before it was turned into a museum. I will take you through the museum in a subsequent posting.

The Spanish consistently underestimated the Chichimeca and overestimated their ability to defeat them. Between 1552-1555, the Chichimeca attacked Jalpan several times and destroyed the original temple and its fields. Attacks such as these led the Viceroy, Martin Enrique Almanza, to decree a "war of fire and blood" and that war captives to be enslaved. This was inflamatory and caused the Pames and Huastecos to form an alliance against the Spanish under a man called Lohomabe. Continued attacks forced the Spanish to build a fort in Jalpan in 1577 and to establish presidios (military posts) throughout the Pame territory. 

View of the pool and the mountains from the arcade outside our room. We chose this hotel because its central location in Jalpan de Serra made it easy to do self-guided walking tours. In addition, Jalpan itself is centrally located at the center of a web of roads that extend out into adjacent valleys. These valleys contain the four other missions we wanted to visit, as well as an ancient Huasteca ruin. Thus, both the hotel and the town were ideal "base camps" for exploration.

The Chichimeca War officially ended 1590, when Church authorities finally intervened. In fact, the war was draining the Spanish treasury and the policy of "fire and blood" was only alienating the native people without producing anything resembling victory. The Church proposed a policy called "purchase for peace" whereby the Spanish would provide goods, food, tools, and land to the Chichimeca, in return for an end to hostilities. An agreement was negotiated and, by 1590, the general war had ended. However, fighting continued sporadically in the Sierra Gorda region until 1598.

The hotel's garden was cool and lush. It was a perfect place to enjoy breakfast or even just a late-morning cup of coffee. Just inside the arch behind the fountain is the main dining room where we took most of our dinners. While there are other restaurants in town, the food and service in the hotel's restaurant was superior to most of them, as well as being very convenient.

Although silver caravans had been passing near the Sierra Gorda from Zacatecas for decades, silver was not discovered in the area around Jalpan until 1599. Soon, mines were developed, along with haciendas de beneficio to refine the ore, and haciendas de agricola y ganado (grain and livestock) to supply them. All this led to an influx of Spanish settlers. In 1609 Augustinian friars, who had fled during the Chichimeca War, returned and resumed their evangelization. In 1614, the first parroquia (parish) was established in the Jalpan area by the secular (non-evangelical) clergy.

Ramblin' round the Pueblo Magico

An arch forms the entrance to an andador, or walking street. The name of the andador is Petra de Mallorca, which is the birthplace of Junipero Serra. Petra is a small town, roughly in the center of the Isla de Mallorca, which lies off the Mediterranean coast of Spain. It was there that Junipero Serra grew up, was educated, and became a Franciscan friar. However, he very much wanted to devote his life to evangelism in Nueva España and, after some difficulties, he arrived in Mexico City in 1749. A year later, he arrived in Jalpan to begin. 

By 1609,  mining activity began to intrude into Jonaz territory. Because of the shortage of labor, mine owners often sent out parties of Spaniards to raid native villages for slaves to work the mines. Such abuses caused a revolt by the Jonaz, beginning in 1615. Similar outbreaks continued for decades. Finally, in 1670, a military expedition led by Gerónimo de Labra was sent to pacify the area. The Augustinians and Dominican Orders also took a hand in pacification. Between 1682-86 many new Augustinian missions were established throughout the Sierra Gorda. In 1687, Dominican friars began building their own missions.

 

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A little further down Andador Petra Mallorca, a bougainvillea arbor arches over the walkway. It seems to be a good place to stroll, take a rest, or consult your smartphone, as the young man on the right seems to be doing. Various shops selling clothing and other items line the left side of the andador. In the foreground, a pair of decorative lamps will provide light for evening strollers.

In 1695, the Augustinians began to rebuild some of their missions that had been destroyed by the Jonaz uprisings of 1615-70. A few years later, between 1702-04, a fort and temple were constructed  at the pueblo of San José del Llano. Although the Dominican friar Luis de Guzmán secured a short period of peace with the Jonaz, a new conflict broke out in 1712. This lasted, on and off, for another 23 years. Capitán José de Escandón finally won a decisive victory over the Jonaz at the Battle of Media Luna (Half Moon) in 1735. While the missions and settlers could at last feel safe, no record exists of how the Jonaz felt.

A narrow walkway extends out until finally reaching a stairway. The Centro area of Jalpan, which contains the Jardín Principal and church, sits on a bluff. Below it, a river bisects the town. One of the streets leading from the Jardín ends at the beginning of this walkway. From the metal stairway at the end, pedestrians can descend to the lower town. The walkway also provides a good view of the river and the mountains beyond.

In 1741, six years after his victory at Media Luna, José de Escandón was named Capitán General of the whole Sierra Gorda. That same year a group of Franciscan friars was sent from their headquarters in Mexico City to investigate the possibility of establishing new Franciscan missions in the Sierra Gorda. A report supporting this was published in 1743. The following year, five Franciscan missions were founded at Jalpan, Concá, Tilaco, Tancoyol, and Landa. After Junipero Serra arrived in 1750, he set about supervising the construction of Franciscan churches and convent buildings in those five towns. 

One of the streets from the Jardín leads down a hill toward the river and lower town. The dark clouds gathering overhead suggest an on-coming rainstorm. We visited in the summer, which is the rainy season, so this was not unexpected. Fortunately, the rain in Central Mexico tends to be sporadic and often falls late at night. Accordingly, it didn't tend to interfere with any excursions we had planned. Also, rainy nights tend to be cool, which makes for good sleeping weather.

The presence of the Franciscans in the Sierra Gorda was destined to be short-lived. In 1770, only 20 years after Junipero Serra began building the gorgeous churches we see today, the Franciscan missions were secularized. Secular clergy operate in a parish structure and report to a bishop appointed to govern a geographic area. The friars are responsible to their various Orders and work anywhere the Order is allowed to function. Secularization meant that the Franciscan missions and their churches were turned over to the secular clergy and its bureaucratic structure. So, in 1770, the Franciscans departed the Sierra Gorda area.

Three young girls amuse themselves as they watch the world go by. Balconies are ubiquitous in Jalpan. As you can see above, they are great places to hang out. Two of the girls are wearing their school uniforms. These are required by public as well as private schools. The wearing of uniforms tends to reduce friction over social/economic differences. However, for poor families, paying for them can present financial problems. Some expats where I live have noticed this and help pay for uniforms and school supplies for the children of the local people who work for them. 

This completes Part 1 of my Sierra Gorda series. I hope you have enjoyed Part 1 and, if so, you will leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below, or email me directly. If you leave a question in the Comments section, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim

The Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo Part 10 of 10: Ex-Hacienda Santo Tomas (the silver refining area)

The patio where the crushed silver ore was mixed with mercury. The large metal door just to the right of center is the entrance to the zaguan (entrance hall) which leads to the casa grande's courtyard. (See Parts 7, 8, and 9). The structure to the right of the casa grande was used for storage of mercury and the equipment used for processing the ore, and possibly to safeguard the finished silver ingots. The fountain in the middle of the patio was a decorative touch that was probably added after the hacienda switched its focus from silver refining to distilling tequila. 

This is the final posting on ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás and it also finishes my ten-part series on the silver mines of Hostotipaquillo. In this part, I'll show you the patio where the silver was separated from the ore by amalgamating it with mercury. I'll also take you into the area where furnaces and an oven were used in the final stage of the refining process. Behind the ovens are the stables for work and riding horses. 

Another view of the storage building, taken from the atrium of the capilla (chapel). The main gate is on the right side of the photo, under the red tiles. On our third trip to ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás, we were finally able to gain access to the interior of the property when we found the main gate open. On the theory that asking for forgiveness is easier than asking for permission, we decided to go inside to look for someone who might allow us to explore. The families who own these old places are nearly always proud to show them off. True to form, the hacendado's son was in residence and he invited us in.

The patio, looking toward its northeast corner. My friend Jim B is the figure photographing the fountain. The storage building is in the upper left, with the main gate just to its right. Barely visible behind the palm trees to the right of the gate is the capilla shown in Part 7. In Part 8, I showed a couple of carriages parked in the zaguan. These would have entered through the main gate and off-loaded their passengers at the entrance of the zaguan, which is out of sight to the left.

Once the silver ore was delivered by pack mules from the mines, it was crushed into a thick powder by the grinders connected to the water wheel seen in Part 9. It was brought to this patio and spread out on the cobblestones to form a large, flat, circular pancake. Using the  hooves of horses, the ore was then mixed with mercury, copper sulfate, and a salt water brine. After several weeks of mixing, the silver amalgamated with the mercury and could be recovered for the next step. For a complete description of the amalgamation process and the history of its development, click here.

The enclosure containing the furnaces, oven, and the stable is accessed here. This doorway is located on the east side of the courtyard. The capilla is out of sight to the left. The figure in the doorway is Tom, another of our Hacienda Hunters. He rarely misses an opportunity to go along on one of these adventures. Tom is also a talented photographer whose photos I have occasionally used to illustrate this blog. 

Ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás has a maze-like layout. Although I got to explore some of the areas inside the casco wall which surrounds the main structures, I did not have time to view and photograph some of it. Hopefully, some time in the future, I'll be able to return for another look.

Looking back out into the patio through the entrance of the ore oven complex. The fountain and the door to the casa grande's zaguan can be seen across the patio. Notice the steel gate on the doorway of the oven complex and the thickness of its walls. Everything about this area, and the hacienda as a whole, says "security".

The oven complex

Two furnaces created the heat for burning off the mercury. At the far end of this structure is a metal door that is standing open. The outside of the door has a temperature gage. Based on descriptions I have read, I can make an educated guess about how these ore furnaces functioned. Fires in the furnaces created heat, which was then funneled to the large room where the silver/mercury amalgamation was placed. 

The heat caused the mercury to evaporate into fumes. These fumes condensed on specially placed surfaces. This allowed the collection and reuse of the mercury, which was expensive and could sometimes be difficult to obtain.  

The temperature gage is mounted at the center of the large metal door. The "C" with the degree symbol indicates that the gage uses the celsius scale. The highest temperature is 110C which translates to 230F. Although the boiling point for mercury is 376.73C, it is a volatile metal that can even evaporate at room temperature in some situations. Mercury's evaporation temperature can be lowered by applying heat.

During the Virreinato (Viceroyalty or colonial period), the Spanish Crown maintained a monopoly on mercury. Because it was an essential part of the refining process, this raised considerable revenue for the Crown. However, it also created a means for controlling the colonial mining industry and the men who were growing rich from it. 

A major problem grew out of Spain's involvement in various wars during much of the 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries. Its ports were sometimes blockaded and ships carrying mercury to Nueva España (Mexico) were often captured. All this caused periodic supply shortages and sometimes even led to mine shutdowns and widespread economic disruption. 

The remains of various pieces of machinery are scattered near the ovens. The geared wheels of this one were driven by the large, smooth wheel which was once turned by a strap. It is not clear exactly what role this machine played in the refining process. 

Each of the two furnaces has a small arched opening on its back side The purpose of the openings may have been to draw air into the furnace to increase the heat. Notice the small sign in the upper right which says "PROD. FINAL", meaning "Final Product". This was where the finished ingots would have been collected after the molten silver was poured into molds to form them.

A small office stands between two of the oven complex's buildings. This was probably the office of the man who was responsible for the refining process. This manager would have been a key figure who reported to the hacienda's mayor domo (administrator). Education and technical training would have been necessary for anyone who occupied this position.

The stables

Behind the ovens are stables for the hacienda's work and riding horses. There are two wings, shaped like a capital "L", with five stalls in each. The lifespan of the work horses that were used to mix the mercury into the ore was probably fairly short. The chemical is very toxic to animals as well as humans. The horses trudged around a post centered in the pancake of ore spread out in the patio. 

This process occurred over a period of weeks, during which the horses' legs were in direct contact with the mercury. They would have also breathed it in through their lungs. When work horses were not available, human workers were sometimes used in the same way, 

A friendly horse comes over to say "hi!" The carriage or riding horses kept for the use of the hacendado and his family faired much better than the work horses (or the low level workers, for that matter). Fine riding horses were especially prized on Mexico's haciendas. They not only provided excellent transportation but they were a way of displaying status. Pride in the ownership of horses and in horsemanship is still found all over Mexico, but particularly in the state of Jalisco, which is the heart of Old Mexico.

Ths completes Part 10 of my Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo series, as well as completing the series itself. I hope you have enjoyed it and have perhaps learned something about the role of silver in Nueva España and the early Republic. If you would like to leave your thoughts or any questions, please do so in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim

 

The Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo Part 9 of 10: Ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás (the aqueduct and water wheel system)

Water cascades from the aqueduct sluice down into the waterwheel structure. A still-functioning aqueduct provides water to Hacienda Santo Tomás. The non-functioning waterwheel once powered machinery used in the silver refining process. Water was also necessary for the tequila production that, over time, replaced silver refining as the economic focus of the hacienda (see Part 8 of this series). Santo Tomás was not the only hacienda de beneficio (refinery) in the area that employed a waterwheel. Those who have been following this series will remember a similar arrangement at ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic (see Part 5).

In this posting I will show you the aqueduct and waterwheel and describe how they worked together. I'll also tell you a bit about the long history of waterwheels. Those wishing to visit ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás will find directions in Part 6 or you can use this interactive Google map.

The aqueduct

The aqueduct brings water from a source above and to the east of the hacienda. The two pillars are part of some ruined hacienda structures. Behind them, crossing the hillside, you can see the dark line of the aqueduct's wall. In order to reach this point, you need to walk down the street past the capilla (chapel) and take the right fork up the hill. You reach the point seen above near the end of the cobble stone street. From here, you need to scramble up the hillside to the aqueduct wall.

Access to water was essential at every hacienda. It kept livestock and crops alive, as well as providing for the needs of the human inhabitants. However, water was especially important on a hacienda de beneficio, where it provided power for the machinery in a time before electricity was harnessed. In order to do so, the water needed to originate from a source that was higher than the waterwheel in order to utilize the force of gravity. As a result, haciendas de beneficio--including Santo Tomás--were nearly always constructed in canyons or arroyos. 

The aqueduct still provides a steady stream of year-round water. The wall on the right is about 1 ft. (1/3m) wide and is walkable, if you have a sure sense of balance. However, you probably should not try this if you are not comfortable with it. The aqueduct continues around the bend in the hill. I was impressed by the quantity of water it carried in this arid region.

Aqueducts have been used for millennia by civilizations all over the world. Four thousand years ago, the ancient Minoans on Crete developed what may have been the first system of aqueducts for irrigation. In other places, aqueducts were used to transport water to support urban life. For example the ancient trading city of Petra (in modern Jordan) used a system of tunnels and channels carved from solid rock to provide water to their city.

Around the bend, the aqueduct heads toward the spillway structure. The spillway turns at a right angle from the aqueduct and drops its load of water several meters down into the waterwheel structure. As you can see, the hillside leading from the hacienda up to the aqueduct is pretty steep. The hill continues up to the left to where it meets the fence that lines the edge of the 15D cuota (toll road).

The Deccan civilization of India built some of the earliest aqueducts. One of them was 24km (15mi) long and, among other uses, supplied water to the royal baths. During the Iron Age, the people of Oman in Arabia used underground aqueducts constructed as "a series of well-like vertical shafts connected by gently sloping horizontal tunnels". One of the longest ancient aqueducts was built by the Assyrians (in modern Iraq). It was 80km (49.7mi) long and 10m (32.8ft) high where it crossed a 300m (984ft) wide valley.

The spillway juts out like the prow of an 18th century galleon. Just above the wall on the right, you can see the north wing of the casa grande. The adobe wall on either side of the spillway is the south part of the casco wall that surrounds and protects the main structures of the hacienda. The modern pueblo of Santo Tomás rises up the hill on the other side of the arroyo.

The Roman aqueducts are, of course, the most famous. Their water projects were built all over Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The various aqueducts feeding water to the city of Rome alone "totaled over 415km (258mi)...and set a standard of engineering that was not surpassed for a thousand years". 

This arch supports the spillway above. The view is to the west along the south casco wall. In the distance you can see a tall conical structure, which is one of the bastions that protect this side of the hacienda. There is another view of it in Part 6. One defect of the hacienda's defenses is the hill to the left which rises high enough that an enemy could look down into the courtyard inside the walls. Snipers in that high position could make movement difficult for the defenders.

Aqueducts were also present in pre-hispanic North and South America. Around 540 AD, the people who designed the famous Nazca lines in the Peruvian desert brought water to their communities with aqueducts that are still in use today. In Costa Rica, a unknown civilization of ancient people built another still-functioning system of aqueducts. Finally, when the Spanish arrived at the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán (today's Mexico City), they discovered two large aqueducts to bring fresh water across the salty Lago de Texcoco to the island city. The Spanish conquered the city, in part, by destroying its aqueducts. 

The water wheel structure

Another view of the water spilling into the water wheel structure. The long pipe running diagonally across these structures is a 20th century addition to the water system. The lower arch in the upper left provided the view of the casco wall and bastion seen in the previous photo. The large arch just above the pipe is the opening for the axle of the water wheel, which extended out to power ore-grinding machinery on both sides . Above the large arch is a row of square holes. These are for rafters which once extended out to support the roof of a structure that sheltered the grinding machinery.

The origin of the water wheel is even more ancient than that of the aqueduct. The very first may have been the shaduf in Egypt. It was developed around 4000 BC--six thousand years ago! A shaduf has a lever with a weight on one end and a bucket on the other. It is used to lift water out of the Nile up to the bank and into an irrigation ditch. Shadufs are still in use along the Nile today. Like they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The waterwheel structure, viewed from the courtyard. The structure is approximately 50m (150 ft) long and 7m (21 ft) tall at the lower end. This waterwheel structure is much more complex than the one in my posting on ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic.

It was a long time before water wheels were used for anything but irrigation. People had been grinding grain using something called a quern stone since around 4000 BC. Around 500 BC, a rotary quern stone was developed as a way to grind grains using human or animal power to turn the stone. However, by 400 BC, a Greek had the bright idea of harnessing water to do the grinding, thus creating one of the first automated machines. Sometime between 200-100 BC, people began using horizontal water wheels ("Noria wheels") to turn the grindstone.

An arch was constructed in the wall in order to allow easy access to work areas. Two of our Hacienda Hunters can be seen in the courtyard through the arch, along with the portales of the casa grande in the distance. At this point in its base, the waterwheel structure is about 1.5m (4ft) thick.

Archeologists speculate that the idea of a horizontal wheel came from the widespread use of pottery wheels in the area around Sidon (on Lebanon's coast), which also has many mountain streams. In any case, a Greek from Sidon called Antipater wrote about Noria wheels in 100 BC. Previous to this, about 250 BC, other Greeks had developed gears made of wood. Not too long after the invention of the Noria wheel, someone else figured out that if you made the wheel vertical and used the previously-invented gears, the result was much more efficient than using un-geared horizontal wheels. 

Openings on either side allowed access to the slot within which the wheel moved. I am not sure of the purpose of these openings, but they may have provided a way to maintain and repair the wooden structure of the wheel. 

The first vertical water wheels were of the "undershot" type. This involved immersing the paddles of the wheel in the stream passing below, in order to push them and turn the wheel, which then turned a horizontal axle. The axle rotated the gears, transferring the energy to the vertical grinding quern. This was a great advance over the horizontal wheel, but the velocity of the water could vary according to wet or dry weather, reducing efficiency. Then the Romans got involved and created the "overshot" wheel, which drops the water onto the paddles from above at a controlled rate. The one at Santo Tomás was of this type.

Another access point in the structure. This one has a row of rafter holes above it. Jutting out from the wall, just below each hole, is a wooden nub which gave extra support to the rafters. Although the opening and the rafter holes are lined with brick, the overall structure is constructed with rough stone, covered with plaster.

The Roman invention of the overshot wheel occurred sometime in the 1st or 2nd century AD. The Chinese also developed an overshot wheel about this time and may have gotten the idea through trade with Rome. The overshot wheel was more expensive to build, since it usually required a dam to create a pond and a mill race to carry the water to the wheel. However, the increase in efficiency made up for the initial expense. The velocity of the water could be controlled and additional torque was produced from the weight of the water falling on the paddles. 

The arched opening at the base of the structure is the exit point for the water. Another aqueduct beginning at the opening carries away the water. The stone-lined ditch turns sharply to the right and continues down the hill past one of the buildings in the courtyard.

The ruins of a great Roman mill have been found in southern France near Arles. The mill used 16 water wheels, two abreast, in stair steps down a hill, to produce enough flour to feed 12,000 people. Over the following centuries, water wheels were used for many other purposes, including sawing wood, running bellows in forges, and pumping water out of mines. After the Middle Ages ended, water wheels became central to the birth of the industrial revolution. By the early 1900s, they were being used to produce electricity. And it all began with the shaduf, six thousand years ago.

The grinding disks

Several circular pits are located near where the waterwheel axle emerges from the wall. I took this telephoto shot from above, on the aqueduct spillway. During my second visit, I was as yet unable to gain access to the interior of the hacienda and so had to perch precariously on the aqueduct spillway to photograph what I could. I was somewhat mystified by the circles, but their proximity to the waterwheel structure strongly suggested a relationship.

View of the inside of a roofless room on the west side of the waterwheel structure. The opening in the wall is where the axle emerges on this side. Barely visible in the lower right is another of the circular pits. There were at least a dozen of the pits near the axle hole, with about half of them on each side of the wall, . The rafter holes above the axle hole show that this area, like the one on the other side, was also roofed at one time.

Full view of the circular pit seen in the previous photo. Each of the pits has a hole in its center. I finally concluded that these were the bases of grindstones, which had once been placed horizontally over each pit and turned on an axle projecting up from the center point. The grindstones themselves are long gone, along with the geared apparatus that turned them,  However, this must have been a complex mechanical operation, with the waterwheel providing the power to turn multiple grindstones simultaneously. 

The large chunks of ore were first broken up outside the mouths of the mines, usually by women and children. The smaller rocks that resulted would have been packed down the mountains by mules and then fed into the grinding apparatus. This would have created a coarse powder, ready for the application of mercury in the "patio process". 

This completes Part 9 of my Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo series. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or comments in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely fashion. In the last part of this series, Part 10, I will show you the area where the silver ore was further processed into ingots and discuss how it was done.

Hasta luego, Jim