Why Tequis
A Pueblo Mágico of water, stone and wicker.
Since October 17, 2012, Tequisquiapan has been a Pueblo Mágico, the fourth in Querétaro after Bernal, Jalpan and Cadereyta.
What makes it different fits into a weekend: a center of stone arcades, the craft of basket weaving, the hot-spring tradition that made it a getaway, the wineries and cheese makers of the Art, Cheese and Wine Route, and a calendar of festivals that barely stops all year.
The name
Tequixquitl
tequesquite, a mineral salt
Atl
water
Apan
place
The name comes from Nahuatl and is usually translated as place on the river of tequesquite. In Otomí, the town is called Nthe.
History
Nearly five centuries around water.
Before 1551
Land of Otomí villages along the San Juan River.
1551
The town is founded in the San Juan and La Magdalena neighborhoods; the founding Mass is held in the church of Santa María Magdalena.
1567
The water tank that gives Parque La Pila its name is built.
1656
A royal decree sets the name Santa María de la Asunción de Tequisquiapan.
1874
The second stage of the parish church of Santa María de la Asunción is finished; its clock dates from 1897 and the dome was raised in 1921 by volunteer neighbors.
1902
According to the municipality, the Bernal railway station opens on the outskirts of town; it is named for its view of the Peña.
1916
Venustiano Carranza, a regular at its hot springs, declares Tequisquiapan the geographic center of the country. The pendulum monument recalls it (the actual geographic center is in Zacatecas).
1950s
The heyday of the hot-spring resorts: Tequis becomes a getaway for Mexico City and the Bajío.
2012
On October 17 it is named a Pueblo Mágico, the fourth in Querétaro.
Churches, neighborhoods and chapels
The neoclassical stone parish church of Santa María de la Asunción presides over Plaza Miguel Hidalgo with its arcades, bandstand and cypress trees. A few streets away, the church of Santa María Magdalena keeps the memory of the founding.
Between the San Juan and La Magdalena neighborhoods there are Indigenous chapels such as the Cruz Verde, and close to a hundred patron saint feasts are held in churches and chapels throughout the year.
Historic Route
The basket-weaving capital
Tequis earned the nickname “Paradise of Basketry” for its baskets, furniture and figures woven from willow, wicker, reed and cypress root. Most workshops are in the Barrio de la Magdalena.
Where to buy: the Tequesquicalli market, the oldest; the Telésforo Trejo, with more than 60 stalls on two floors; and the Parador Artesanal, open on weekends and holidays next to the bus terminal.
Wicker also comes out for the festivals: during Tejedores de Luz (Day of the Dead) and the Christmas village, woven figures fill the plazas.
Crafts Route
Cheese, wine and small-town cooking
Tequis is a stop on Querétaro’s Art, Cheese and Wine Route. More than 60 wine labels are made in the area, and the town’s vineyards are less than 20 minutes from the center. Cheese makers produce fresh and aged cheeses from cow and goat milk.
Since 1976, the National Cheese and Wine Fair (now the International Art, Cheese and Wine Festival) has brought wineries and cheese makers to Parque La Pila between May and June.
At the table: lamb barbacoa with its consommé, enchiladas queretanas, gorditas de maíz quebrado and, for dessert, charamuscas and milk sweets; to drink, pulque or prickly-pear curado.
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Peña de Bernal
About 35 km away, in the municipality of Ezequiel Montes, rises the Peña de Bernal: a monolith of about 350 meters above the town of the same name, also a Pueblo Mágico.
Since 2009, the places of memory and living traditions of the Otomí-Chichimeca people of Tolimán, which include the Peña, have been UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Getting there