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Monday, February 10, 2014

My eighth "Magic Town"

In previous posts, I have mentioned the "Pueblo Mágico" program of the Mexican tourism board.  Small towns throughout the country have been designated as "Magic Towns" for their cultural, historical and scenic qualities.  I had previously visited seven "Pueblos Mágicos", and on Saturday, Alejandro and I took an excursion to my eighth, the town of Tlayacapan.
Tlayacapan is located in the state of Morelos to the south of Mexico City, not far from another "Pueblo Mágico", Tepoztlán, which I described in earlier post.

        

Tlayacapan, like Tepoztlán, is located in a region of dramatic mountains.



Saturday is market day in Tlayacapan.  We parked the car on the edge of town, and walked toward the center along a street crowded with vendors' stalls.


 
At the center of town we came to the former Augustinian monastery of San Juan Bautista.
Construction on this religious complex began in the 1530s, little more than a decade after the Spanish conquest.  It has been declared a "World Heritage Site" by UNESCO.

 



It is noteworthy for the remains of fresco paintings on the walls and ceilings of the church and monastery.





A colonial building which was once a candle factory is now a cultural center and small museum with some displays of the local pottery.



Tlayacapan was an interesting town, and worth a visit, but it didn't seem as "magical" as most of the other "Pueblos Mágicos" that I have seen.

 

3 comments:

  1. Love the market scene. The last photo of the jardin with the bell tower in the background is wonderful as well.

    SO glad to be able to read your blog. I can't wait til I have time to read all your posts....

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. I'm so glad that you like my blog.
      That last picture was taken from the roof of the cultural center. I'm not sure if we were supposed to be there, but the door was open, so I took advantage of the view.
      Saludos,
      Bill

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  2. The monastery looks VERY similar to the one in Tepoztlán. Actually, the town doesn't look unlike Tepoztlán, at least the surroundings. Nice photos, though if you upload them at full resolution, they really slow down the loading of your page. I usually chop my down to 4x6" at 200 PPI, and Wordpress serves up even lower resolution unless you click on the photo. It also puts off the day that I'll need to pay Wordpress for storage.

    Saludos,

    Kim G
    Boston, MA
    Where we need to write our Zacatecas post.

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