REAL DEL MONTE

CULTURAL TOURISM IN SITES OF MINING HERITAGE

Real del Monte "The Rooftop of Mexico"

El Real

Real del Monte tastes and smells like the mine, is the mine that shares with us the life she holds in her heart, reminding us how much she has given us and the little awareness that we have that the mine is really the town, no matter how worn out her veins might be, she can continue giving us life if we learn to live from its essence when she goes out to take the sun or to feel the cold of this place, when she gives shelter to the mist and lets children run through el Hiloche or visit Acosta Mine to learn about their parents and grandparents’ life, to learn about their town, because Real del Monte is a mine that opens herself without false modesty.

Real del Monte, this town was known as Magotzi in the pre-Colombian period, Mineral del Monte after Mexico’s Independence, and it’s still called “el Real” by everybody, that is the reason why, in spite of the official name, we will continue calling it Real del Monte, as the Spaniards did since the 16th century. Real del Monte is located 12 Km. from the capital of the state, travelers can take the old Pachuca-Real del Monte road through federal road No. 105, also known as México-Tampico highway; or use the new freeway, if they do not want to cross downtown Pachuca. Real del Monte is, with no doubt, the most important town of the mining region in this state, not only because it has a rich history, but also because the number of inhabitants became bigger than Pachuca’s during the Colonial period. Since then, this number has been fluctuating from 8 to 12 thousand, depending on mining bonanzas and depressions.

Real del Monte has been classified by the Ministry of Tourism as “Magic Town”, visitors will discover the reason, especially if they walk through its streets and alleys, visiting barrio del Viento (the Wind District), El Hiloche forest, the English Cemetery, the old miners’ hospital now transformed into a cultural center and occupational medicine museum. Another route goes from the downtown to Acosta Mine, today museum, following this route we can see the house where Camerino Mendoza was born; he was a labor movement hero in 1907 in the textile towns of the state of Veracruz: Río Blanco and Santa Rosa, by the way, this last one was named Ciudad Mendoza in his honor. Further on we can see one of the art deco buildings in el Real: the municipal slaughtering house.