Travel Guide Santiago De Querétaro

Located at an altitude of 1,900 m, the state capital enjoys a dry and temperate climate. The 17th century saw the consolidation of the city, whose wealth was soon based on its agricultural and livestock resources, which allowed the installation of numerous religious orders that found here a base for their growing spiritual conquest. In 1671, it received the title of Third City of the Kingdom. In the 18th century, the growth of trade and textile (wool) activities allowed Santiago de Querétaro to become one of the most flourishing economies in the country: on the Camino Real route, it supplied the large mining cities with the products essential to their development, while the region itself began to exploit seams of precious metals in the mountainous region of Cadereyta. The commercial surplus is used for the construction of beautiful buildings in the city centre. The Sierra Gorda was finally subdued by arms at this time. From the 19th century onwards, the instability endured by the country resulted in a period of relative economic decline; Santiago de Querétaro then played an important role in Mexican political history. The flame of Independence was lit there by a woman, the Corregidora doña Josefa Ortiz Domínguez, who was plotting against the colonial government. It is also where the Austrian Emperor Maximilian of Hasbourg, the short-lived Emperor of Mexico, supported by Napoleon III, was shot in 1867, an event that marked the end of the Second Mexican Empire. The presidency of Porfirio Díaz, as in the rest of the country, marked the return of agricultural and industrial prosperity, before the outbreak of the revolution, during which Querétaro was declared capital for a time. It was in the Theater of the Republic that the Constitution of the United Mexican States was promulgated in 1917, which is still in force today