Mexico/Guerrero: Taxco de Alarcon
The beautiful town of Taxco de Alarcon is in the north of the state of Guerrero. Hernan Cortez founded the city in 1529 and it quickly became a major silver mining center. Even today the city is famous for its silver products. Taxco lies on very rough terrain of steep hills and every narrow cobblestone street without sidewalks in the old town is nearly vertical (try driving here!) and houses seem clinging to hills. Most streets are paved with dark stones, adorned with lines, pictures and even murals of white stone. Nearly every taxi is the city is an old and beaten up VW Beetle. All buildings are white-washed with red-tiled roofs – making the whole town look like something from Spain. Main plaza holds the main church – Santa Prisca Church – built in the 1750s by silver magnate to plowed so much money into the church’s opulence inside and out that it nearly bankrupted him. The slim two-towered pink stone church is highly decorated and the inside is full of gold (sadly was closed). Other interesting churches are the Church of the Ex-monastery of San Bernardino de Siena and the Church of Veracruz.
