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of the Tropic of Cancer and 75 km from Mazatlán, lies the
quaint, former mining town of El Rosario, which was founded
in 1655 with a fortune of gold and silver. According to legend,
the silver mines were inadvertently discovered when a local
farmhand was chasing a cow. His rosary ("rosario" in Spanish)
got caught in a tree, so he threw his hat in the tree to mark
the spot for his return. When he returned to the spot, it
was near nightfall, so he set up camp and stayed the night.
In the morning, he noticed that, where he had made a fire,
there were a number of streaks of silver in the earth. When
word got out, precious metal seekers came to El Rosario from
all over. However it was that word got out, El Rosario was
a successful mining town for many years. Although the mining
activity ended in 1945, the town's prosperity is evident in
houses, buildings and streets, and particularly |
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in
the "Mission of our Lady Rosario" church (Nuestra Senora
del Rosario). The altar in this church is an impressive
floor to ceiling wall of gold, and is said to be one of
the most beautiful in the country. Aside from the altar,
the church has a story of its own. Hard to believe, but
El Rosario has over 70 km of underground tunnels that were
dug over a series of 290 years (they say that there are
more underground tunnels than above ground streets). Fearing
the destruction of the church from crumbling underground
tunnels, villagers moved the entire church, brick by brick,
to the town square-- including the amazing golden altar.
The ruins of the first church are an archaeological marvel.
El Rosario is the town located in the municipality of Rosario.
Take Federal Hwy 15, just over 75 km southwest of Mazatlán
to get there. And be sure to taste Toni-Col, a deliciously
refreshing vanilla soda made right in Rosario.
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