Travel Guide Reserva De La Biósfera De Mapimí

Located 300 kilometers north of the capital Durango, but only 80 kilometers from Torreón (Coahuila), this village on high desert plateaus was born around a Jesuit mission in 1598, before becoming an important northern stop along the Camino Real Tierra Adentro that snaked to the city of Chihuahua from the capital Mexico City; during the next two centuries, it was to undergo constant attacks from various highly mobile tribes that refused to submit. From its golden age of mining (the metal from the surrounding mountains was processed here), it preserves a surprising amount of 18th and 19th century architecture, including the old buildings of the Departamento del Commercio, the Servicio Postal and the baroque church of Santiago Apostól (1772). Today, this village is above all an interesting base for discovering some of the natural beauties of the surroundings, and the impressive ghost village of Ojuela, which can be reached by a suspension bridge.