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Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

Les noms des biens figurent dans la langue dans laquelle les Etats parties les ont soumis.

Mexique (Amérique latine et Caraïbes)

Date de soumission : 20/11/2001
Critères: (i)(ii)
Catégorie : Culturel
Soumission préparée par :
CONACULTA-INAH Dirección de Patrimonio Mundial
Coordonnées
34°-19° N ; 107°-99° W Queretaro State, Mexico
Ref.: 1539

Description

Since Pre-Hispanic times, the Mexican territory has been inter-comected by an outstanding and extensive communication network, from the dry northern lands, to the deep forests and lowlands of the south-east, and from the central highlands to the Baja and Yucatan peninsulas. These roads remained in use until, the Spanish Conquest, when the Colonial road system was bom. When silver deposits were discovered, the conquerors moved further north establishing in each site strongholds or missions, which were in fact the origin of northern cities. These towns were established as part of the defensive measures against the Chichimec, a fierce, nomadic people.



During the second half of the XVI century, several roads headed north and became in fact the earliest links between barbarism and civilisation. These roads were used to transport merchandise, animals and carriages. The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, also known as the Silver Road or Road to Santa Fe, was the first great road to cross the uninhabited continental area. It was a narrow line furrowed and firmly packed by the hurried miners going through uncultivated lands. The development of mining activities strengthened and extended this road, along which large amounts of silver and mercury, wheat, corn, firewood and other merchandise, were moved, supplying northern communities and other regions.



Large settlements developed along its route, such as Queretaro, Durango, Sombrerete, Chihuahua, El Paso, Albuquerque and Santa Fe, to name a few. These settlements supported the colonisation and evangelisation efforts of the vast lands conquered for the Spanish Crown. The stretch of Camino Real between Paso del Norte to San Juan Pueblo, in New Mexico, still preserves its original course.