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Taxco Mexico

Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico, is one of the oldest mining sites in the New World.  In 1522, a year after he conquered the Aztecs, Hernan Cortez staked his mining claim in Taxco, sending silver from this area all through Spain and the rest of Europe.  The conquistadors then moved on to more productive mining sites to satisfy their lust for silver and gold, and the town’s mining faded and was dormant for almost two hundred years.

 In 1716, Don José de la Borda, a Spaniard of French descent, awoke the industry and made quite a forture.  To show his thanks to God, he funded several enduring structures such as the Santa Prisca Cathedral.

Built in the Spanish baroque style, the Santa Prisca can be seen from all parts of Taxco.  Its zocolo (plaza) is the focal point of the pueblo (town.)

 During Mexico’s 19^th century War for Independence, Spanish barons destroyed their mines rather than lose them to the revolutionaries.  Thus the art of silver work was dead….  

 …until the late 1920’s when William Spratling, an American, moved to Mexico to write a book.  The book was never written.  Instead, when Spratling heard that even though Taxco for centuries had been the site of silver mining, it had never been considered a location where jewelry and art objects of silver were designed and made.  Upon hearing this, Spratling embarked on the life-long task of helping the people of the area to become the silver mining AND silversmithing capital of Mexico.  

Taxco has retained its natural charm of an old Spanish colonial town with red tiled roofs, narrow cobble stoned streets running up and down the hillsides, and flowers everywhere.