Taxco de Alarcon

The silver city of Taxco, Guerrero

Santa Prisca church, Taxco

Founded in 1528, Taxco de Alarcón (originally named Tetelcingo) grew up on the dry hillsides of Guerrero around and because of the rich silver deposits found in the area.

In 1580 poet and playwright Juan Ruiz de Alarcón was born in this mining city, and in 1872 Taxco’s name was officially converted to “Taxco de Alarcón” in his honor.

In 1990 Taxco, with its colonial architecture, cobblestone streets that wind narrowly up and down the hillside, and the magnificent Santa Prisca Church on Borda Plaza, was decreed a National Historical monument. Taxco is at an altitude of 1,645 meters above sea level.

Taxco Silver

Silver was extracted from the mines in the hills of this region from well before the arrival of the Spaniards. Although the mines no longer yield much ore, as the natural reserves have been largely depleted over the past centuries, Taxco is still famous for its silversmiths and silver shops.

In the town center, surrounding the Borda Plaza and Santa Prisca Church, are numerous stores offering extensive arrays of fine silver jewelry, goblets, platters and decorative articles. Many silver stalls are also to be found in the bustling market below the square, tucked amidst the winding, cobblestoned streets.

When shopping for silver in Taxco or anywhere else, make sure that the silver is stamped with the official .925 mark of sterling silver or, if it’s a small piece of jewelry, that a tiny tag marked .925 is attached to it.

Why .925? In order for silver to be suitable and durable enough for the wear and tear of jewelry and other items, the metal is alloyed with a small amount of copper. Sterling Silver, comprising 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper, has been the standard for jewelry since the 14th century in many parts of the world.

Taxco Hotels

Taxco Silver

Other Attractions and Activities

Take a trek or a taxi high up onto the hill above Taxco to the massive Christ monument — an incredible vantage point from which to overlook the entire town with its white walls and red tile roofs cascading down the mountainside.

Visit the incredibly ornate church of Santa Prisca, located to one side of Taxco’s main plaza (Plaza Borda). This beautiful church was constructed between 1751 and 1758 at the request of Don José de la Borda, one of Taxco’s silver-mining barons, to the Archbishop of Mexico. Santa Prisca’s pink stone exterior lends a warm, soft glow over the building and the surrounding structures., and the facade and interior decorations are Mexico’s best and most delightful examples of Mexican baroque. Because of fissures and cracks produced in its dome and vaults by earthquake activity, water, the vibrations of nearby traffic and mining detonations, a large-scale restoration was initiated in 1997.

Visit the Hacienda de El Chorrillo, located on the northern end of Taxco. This important silver hacienda was constructed curing the time of Hernán Cortés for the extraction of the precious metal from the ores of the Taxco silver mines. The highway approaching Taxco from the north passes under a portion of the hacienda’s old aqueduct. In the 1980s the Guerrero state government installed a fine arts center in the hacienda and currently it houses the Centro de Estudios para Extranjeros and a campus of the Fine Arts School of National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

The Spratling Museum, located near Plaza Borda in downtown Taxco, houses a collection of archaeological artifacts donated by master silversmith William Spratling (1906 – 1967) to the people of Taxco. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tel. (762) 622-1660.

Taxco was a traditional site of silver mines, but had no native silverworking industry. Spratling began designing works in silver based primarily on pre-Columbian and traditional motifs, and hired local goldsmiths to produce those designs in Taxco. As the reputation for Spratling’s silver designs grew, he expanded his operation, and began an apprenticeship program for others interested in designing in silver, many of whom continued to work in the Taxco area–with Spratling’s support–once their apprenticeship was over.

By the 1940s, Spratling was selling his designs throughout Mexico and the United States, and moved his design studio to a ranch south of Taxco at Taxco el Viejo. In 1949, the United States Department of the Interior started an exchange program between Spratling’s design studio and seven Alaskan students in order to start a similar workshop in Alaska. While the Alaskan workshop never came to fruition, Alaskan design motifs began to influence Spratling’s subsequent work.

Primarily, Spratling’s silver designs drew upon aboriginal Mesoamerican motifs, with influence from other native and Western cultures. To many, his work served as an expression of Mexican nationalism, and gave Mexican artisans the freedom to create designs in non-European forms. Because of his influence on the silver design industry in Mexico, Spratling has been called the “Father of Mexican Silver”.

Wikipedia contributors, “William Spratling,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Spratling&oldid=312712249 (accessed October 9, 2009).

The Grutas de Cacahuamilpa (Cacahuamilpa grottoes), a massive cave system and national park short side trip outside of town

Ixcateopan – a more rugged side trip into the mountains to the burial place of Cuauhtemoc, the Last Aztec Emperor

Take a side trip to the thermal mineral springs of Ixtapan de la Sal in the neighboring State of Mexico. For more information, see our State of Mexico article. Hotels in Ixtapan de la Sal

Special Events and Festivals

On January 17 and 18, animals are brought to the Santa Prisca Church to be blessed during the annual “Festival de Santa Prisca“. The festival also includes a fair with music and fireworks.
Semana Santa (Holy Week) – Taxco’s Easter festivities and processions are some of the most notable in all of Mexico
May – the Alarconian Theatrical Festival (Jornadas Alarconianas) is held in Taxco
November – the National Silver Fair is held from November 27 through December 5 every year.