Querétaro (city)

• 1. Founding And Indigenous Roots

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  On the 25th of July 1531, a Spanish soldier named Hernán Pérez Bocanegra y Córdoba arrived at a hill called Sangremal. He stood there with an Otomi leader known as Conín, who later took the name Hernando de Tapia. The sun suddenly went dark in a total eclipse that terrified the local Chichimeca warriors. This event caused them to surrender and allowed the Spanish to establish their settlement. The city was named Santiago de Querétaro after Saint James, the patron saint of Spain. Before this moment, Mesoamerican groups had settled the area around AD 200. Two population centers existed then called Toluquilla and Las Ranas. The mountain now known as El Cerrito served as a ceremonial center before being abandoned for unknown reasons. In the late 1440s, the area fell under the control of the Otomi dominion of Xilotepeque. This region was subject to the Aztec Empire of Mexihco-Tenochtitlan during the reign of Ahuizotl. The Otomi were the most populous ethnicity in Xilotepec alongside other groups like the Chichimeca. These two groups remain present today. During pre-Hispanic times, the Otomi lived in stone, wood or adobe dwellings organized into familial clan-like groups. They were sedentary farmers who fought but did not make warfare a large part of their culture.

• 2. Cradle Of Independence

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  Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez used her position as the wife of the city mayor to gather intelligence for the nascent insurgency. She hosted literary circles called tertulias at what is now the Palace of the Corregidora. One such group met regularly at the house of José María Sánchez with the name Asociación de Apatistas. Members included licenciados Lorenzo de la Parra and Juan Nepomuceno Mier y Altamirano among many others. The group was visited by Ignacio Allende and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. The most famous tertulias culminated in the Conspiracy of 1810 which was discovered before they had planned to act. On the 13th of September 1810, Epigmenio González was arrested for stockpiling weapons. The next day Mayor Miguel Domínguez and his wife Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez were arrested for their roles. She managed to get a warning to Miguel Hidalgo who eluded capture and rushed to Dolores. He gave his famous grito or cry for independence from there. La Corregidora was imprisoned several times between 1810 and 1817. She died impoverished and forgotten but later became the first woman to appear on a Mexican coin. Once the armed battle began, the city was taken by the royalist army and remained the last major city to be taken by insurgents.

• 3. Colonial Architecture And Heritage

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  The enormous aqueduct of Querétaro consists of seventy-four arches each twenty meters wide with a total extension of 1,280 meters. It was built by Marquis Juan Antonio de Urrutia y Arana between 1726 and 1738 at the request of nuns of the Santa Clara Convent. Most of the rest of the city's notable sites are located in the historic center which is pedestrian-friendly and filled with colonial architecture. In the center of downtown stands the Church of San Francisco finished at the beginning of the 18th century. It served as the cathedral until the 20th century. The church's cloister now houses the Museo Regional built between 1660 and 1698. This monastery was the first in the city built by Franciscans to evangelize native populations. The Plaza de Independencia or Plaza de Armas is the oldest part of the city filled with Indian laurel trees. Around this plaza is the Palacio de la Corregidora originally called Casas Reales y Cárceles. Today it houses the government of the state of Querétaro. Its name comes from its most famous occupant Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez who was the wife of the mayor. The Palace of Conín formerly housed the Ministry of Urban Development and Public Works. The Church and ex-convent of Santa Rosa de Viterbo was finished in 1752. Inside the nave is sober austere and completely Neoclassical architecture.

• 4. Modern Economic Boom

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  Querétaro has seen outstanding industrial and economic development since the mid-1990s. The metropolitan area has a per capita GDP of US$20,000 second highest among Mexico's metropolitan areas after Monterrey. The city bases its economy on IT and data centers logistics services aircraft manufacturing and maintenance call centers automotive machinery industries chemical production and food products. Major international corporations headquartered here include Bombardier Aerospace Kellogg's Samsung Electronics Daewoo and Colgate-Palmolive. Harman International Industries General Electric Michelin Tetra Pak Siemens Mexico New Holland Faurecia ABC Group Autoliv TRW Automotive Tremec Valeo Funai Procter & Gamble Nestlé Pilgrim's Pride Santander Bank Mabe Mexico Irizar Scania Hitachi Kostal Aernnova Dana Dow Chemical Bose Alpha Hilex Saint-Gobain Flex-N-Gate ThyssenKrupp and TCS operate within the region. The municipality of El Marqués has the highest rate of population growth in the state after almost doubling its population in the last ten years. It is estimated that in 2005 alone 10,465 people migrated to the metropolitan area. The industrialization of the area attracted migrants from poorer areas of Mexico but many are unemployed or under-employed. This led to an explosion of informal markets and other businesses in and around the city.

• 5. Geography And Climate

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  Santiago de Querétaro sits at an altitude varying from 1,900 to 2,460 meters above sea level with the highest elevations at mountains called El Buey Pie de Gallo El Patol El Nabo and El Paisano. The city proper lies on a plain at 1,900 meters. There is only one river the Querétaro River which carved the La Cañada. Numerous streams flow through the territory many of them seasonal along with fresh water springs near mountain areas. The territory contains deposits of gold silver manganese tin mercury lead zinc opal quartz and cantera stone for building. Querétaro has a semi-arid climate with mild temperatures year round although average high temperature in May reaches specific levels. Most precipitation falls from June to August. Freezing temperatures are possible in winter. In most areas various species of cacti appear such as organ pipe and nopals alongside yucca trees adapted to dry climates. Animal life mostly consists of small mammals deer predatory birds and reptiles. Monarch butterflies can be seen in some areas. Nature reserves include Peña Colorado Tángano Parque Ecologicao Joya-La Barreta and El Cimatario National Park. Near the city lies the Sierra Gorda de Querétaro part of the Sierra Madre Oriental declared by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve.

• 6. Urban Development And Infrastructure

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  The municipality of Querétaro is divided into seven boroughs called delegaciones including Centro Histórico Santa Rosa Jáuregui Felix Osores Sotomayor Epigmenio González Josefa Vergara y Hernández Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Cayetano Rubio. Federal Highway 57 runs from Mexico City to Piedras Negras Coahuila crossing Querétaro. Federal Highway 45 leaves Querétaro westbound towards Guanajuato. The part of Federal Highway 57 that crosses the city is called Blvd. Bernardo Quintana stretching from its southernmost part near City Hall to new industrial areas northwest of downtown. The Libramiento Sur-Poniente is a new ring road under construction joining Bernardo Quintana on its southeastern part. Another freeway named after missionary Junípero Serra creates another ring road going from northeast Querétaro around the old airport reaching northern suburb of Juriquilla. Querétaro International Airport began operations in 2004 replacing the old Ing. Fernando Espinoza Gutiérrez International Airport. The airport handles passengers and freight of both transport and private airplanes becoming one of the fastest growing airports in Mexico in terms of passengers. Plans to convert the old airport into an international one began in 1999 after studies indicated the need for such. Construction of infrastructure began in 2002. Public transportation consists of privately owned bus companies covering 123 authorized routes all neighborhoods of the city.