Experience Mexican charm of colonial Alamos

By Ruben Hernandez

The pueblo of Alamos in Sonora, Mexico is a favorite vacation or arts getaway for many Arizonans.

Driving to Alamos from Phoenix and Tucson is comfortable on a four-lane, divided highway. The trip is about 600 miles from Phoenix and 475 miles from Tucson. From the Valley the journey by vehicle takes about 10 ½ hours, including one hour to process a car permit and visa with Mexican immigration.  Tourists also can travel to Alamos by bus, by plane, or with a tour.

It’s in the smaller towns featuring colonial architecture such as Alamos you and your family can experience the real Mexico. Alamos is a former silver mine boomtown and regional capital. Silver lodes were discovered in 1683, and it became the richest city in Mexico north of Guanajuato.

Spanish architects built fabulous mansions in the colonial style, and the Alamos’ population grew to over 30,000. The city lost its luster after Mexican independence from Spain.

The Mexican Revolution in 1910 brought devastation to Alamos. Although fiercely defended by the local Yaqui people, it was attacked and sacked several times. By the 1920s Alamos had become almost a ghost town, the mine closed and many of its mansions in ruins. Alamos began its revival when an American bought a decaying mansion in the 1940s, restored it, and opened a hotel.

Other Americans began to visit and also bought old buildings and renovated them. The town began to breathe new life, modern highways and roads connected to it, and today Alamos is a picturesque colonial town with narrow cobbled streets, old mansions converted into hotels and restaurants, an historic church, a central marketplace, and an old plaza where people gather to past the time or view special events.

There are museums and cultural centers, and in November 2000, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo declared Alamos a National Monument.

Zarco Guerrero, a maskmaker/artist/musician in Mesa, bought a two-story mansion in Alamos. His home has a beautiful courtyard garden with abundant plants and flowers. He takes his family there several times a year, and rents it out the rest of the year.

Guerrero says he’s had nothing but good memories of Alamos.

“The first thing people worry about in Mexico is safety and bad roads,” he says. “The roads to Alamos are well maintained. There’s a special service for tourists on the roads called the Green Angels. They help people with car problems.”

Guerrero adds, “Once in Alamos, visitors will find northern Mexico’s most well preserved colonial city. It’s peaceful and tranquil, with hotels to fit everybody’s budget.”

As an artist, Guerrero recommends that people going to Alamos to schedule their visits at the same time as the popular artistic events that occur year-round.

From Jan. 25-Feb. 2, the town celebrates the 10-day cultural festival in honor of Dr. Alfonzo Ortiz Tirado, an Alamos native and opera singer often called the “Pavarotti of Mexico.”  During this time the town hosts symphony orchestras, choral groups, and bands that perform music from mariachi to classical to jazz. You can stroll along Alamos’ avenues and enjoy art exhibitions, dancers, and street theater.

Other special events include the Alamos Silver Festival, with silversmith displays, and La Estudiantina, when student groups dress in Spanish clothing and perform traditional songs during street processions. From March 14-17 there is a film festival with filmmakers screening their independent films at venues throughout town.

All events, as well as immigration and insurance requirements, hotels and restaurants, and detailed directions to Alamos, can be found on the Alamos Chamber of Commerce Website, www.alamosmexico.com.