Chihuahua City

Chihuahua is Mexico's largest state, and Chihuahua City, it's Capital.  It is Mexico's most prosperous city with a population of just over one million.    It's wealth is built on mining, livestock, timber and more recently, the modern assembly plants known as maquiladoras.     Chihuahua was founded on October 12, 1709, by the Spanish explorer Deza y Ulloa, who dubbed it "Real de San Francisco de Cuellar". It was elevated to the status of "Villa" in 1718 and given the name San Felipe el Real de Chihuahua.  In 1823 it became a city. The name of both the city and the state, according to some sources, comes from an Aztec word that means "Dry and sandy place".  Others have it that it is a Tarahumara Indian word meaning "Place where sacks are made". Chihuahua may well be considered Mexico's "Cradle of Liberty," as some of the most prominent names in the nation's history are closely connected to this city.  In 1811, the Spanish executed Father Miguel Hidalgo, the father of Mexican independence, here.  Chihuahua, in 1864, served briefly as the capital of Mexico under President Benito Juárez.  He made Chihuahua his base against the French invasion.  And then there is Pancho Villa who had a hacienda in town. Chihuahua state occupies nearly 13% of Mexico’s total land space.   It also shares a long land border with the United States. Key Attractions The City's Cathedral is quite stunning; it overlooks the busy Plaza de Armas (main Plaza) where small band-stand like structures host a series of shoe shiners busy polishing the shoes and cowboy boots that can be seen everywhere here; Chihuahua has a lot of ranches around its outskirts... this is Mexico's cowboy country. Two imposing buildings greet you at the end of Calle Libertad, a pedestrian mall with many shops: The Federal Palace; a fine looking building inside and out that today houses Chihuahua’s main postal and telegraph offices; on the left of it, the back side of the Government Palace.  Around the corner is Plaza Hidalgo, where a statue commemorating Padre Miguel Hidalgo, one of the founding fathers of Mexico’s independence movement, stands proudly in the centre.    The Government Palace is built in the traditional style with an impressive courtyard surrounded by a series of passageways and rooms; today they are all official government offices.  All three levels of the building have public access, and there are fine murals on most of the walls which depict Mexico’s struggle for independence.   The Palace is one of the finest in Mexico. Museums Museo Casa Benito Juarez:  Benito Juarez was Mexico’s first president; his home is now a significant museum in the city.   It’s small, but has some interesting rooms that give a glimpse into how Juarez lived and worked; many of his famous quotes and sayings are displayed around the museum; he was something of a philosopher as well as a Statesman. Museo de la Revolucion Mexicana:  (Museum of the Mexican Revolution) The museum is in the middle of a residential suburb; it is General Francisco (Pancho) Villa’s old home.  In 1982, the building was formally taken over by the State, turned into a museum and inaugurated by the then President Jose Lopez Portillo.   The museum gives a good insight into the life and work of Pancho Villa. Various rooms depict the different eras of Mexico’s history around the time of the revolution with many fine and original examples of tools, machinery, weapons, clothing and technologies of the day. Calobozo de Hidalgo:  Calobozo means dungeon and this place, now a museum, is where Padre Miguel Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende were held here before being executed by the Spanish for treason.    Their heads were severed and sent to be hung on the hooks of the Granary in Guanajuato as a warning to other would-be insurgents.   In the Government Palace downtown, there is a special room that is now a shrine to Miguel Hidalgo with a light representing an eternal flame glowing inside. Chihuahua page