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Located in the bordering area of the States of Mexico
and Michoacán, the brother towns of El Oro and
Tlalpujahua share a common history as they are both
linked to an area that constituted one of the richest
mining provinces of Northamerica at the end of the 19th
and beginning of the 20th Century.
This area of temperate woods and mountains was inhabited
by the indigenous mazahuas during the prehispanic era.
Decades after the Spanish conquest, the first churches
were built in 1551 in what would later become the
village of Tlalpujahua.
The region had a slow development until the end of the
18th Century when important mining areas were
discovered which attracted a great number of new
inhabitants to the area in search of the precious metal.
It was in this time that the temples of Tlalpujahua were
elegantly decorated and the town of El Oro was founded
in 1772.
During the 20th Century, these towns
flourished and were rapidly declared municipal heads of
their respective localities, motivating the development
of most of the civil, cultural and governmental
infrastructure in the area.
With time, the precious mineral began to be scarce in
the area, fact that motivated a massive exodus of the
population which practically abandoned the towns,
situation which only worsened in 1937 with the
expropriation of the mines that until then were in
English hands. After the prosperous years of the region
came to an end, a new diversification of the economic
activities of the area took place; it’s now
characterized by its tree-felling, work in stone and
more recently tourism, motivated by the beauty of the
towns’ landscapes and architecture.
El Oro is characterized by its architecture which mixes
traditional elements of the region with others of
European origin, as a response to the influence that
foreign immigrants had in the area. In this town the
eclectic styled Governmental Palace stands out as does
the Municipal Theatre. Other attractive sites are the
chapels of the Magdalene and of Santiago Oxtempan.
Meanwhile, Tlalpujahua is characterized by its native
architecture which grants this town a beautiful
traditional atmosphere that lingers along alleyways,
plazas and stone temples, which constitute an authentic
jewel yet to be discovered. The Main Plaza and the
Nuestra Señora del Carmen Sanctuary, a fantastic example
of late Mexican baroque style, stand out.
The Brockman Dam is located between both towns; it’s an
attractive body of water in which people can fish for
trout or can simply take a stroll around it, like a
stroll through the history and nature of the area. It’s
a two-hour drive from Mexico City.
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