Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda

I visited all 5 Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda in January 2022 by rental car. By departing early from Queretaro, we managed to avoid most of the heavy buses, trucks and trailers which can slow you down quite a bit going uphill through the several hairpins winding through the Sierra Gorda. Before heading up to the Sierra Gorda, we stopped en route to visit the picture perfect former tWHS and pueblo magico of Bernal de la Peña.

I used the pueblo magico of Jalpan as my base for 2 nights to cover all 5 Franciscan missions which make up this WHS. Although they are all quite similar, I really enjoyed spotting their suttle differences and their natural surroundings. These types of serial location WHS (such as the Churches of the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus, the Wooden Churches of Southern Malapolska in Poland, the Tserkvas in Poland/Ukraine, the Wooden Churches in the Carpathians (Slovakia), the Val de Boi Churches and the Asturian Monuments in Spain, etc.) are among my favourite experiences while "hunting" for WHS and this one was no exception either.

The Spanish domination efforts in the region, the last to be conquered, included evangelization efforts, many of which failed before the mid 18th century. During the 16th and 17th century, there were attempts to evangelize the Sierra Gorda by the Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans but all initial missions were destroyed by the indigenous peoples. In 1740, the colonial government decided to exterminate indigenous resistance here to …

The Sierra Gorda Missions still are doing very well in 2022. When the sun shines on the facades of the churches, they really glow. Be sure to be there at the right moment of the day though: Jalpan and Landa are best in the morning, while Conca and Tilaco (pictured) are better in the afternoon. There’s a (free) regional museum also in Jalpan which has replicas of the facades, which I found worth a look for the details.

I visited 3 of the missions on public transport, and have some practicalities to share:

Getting there and away

Jalpan is the natural hub for visiting the Sierra Gorda. I took a direct bus there from Mexico City Norte with the company Coordinades. They have 4 buses daily. It takes 7 hours. On the way out I went via San Luis Potosi (from where I travelled on to the next WHS, Zacatecas). Also 7 hours on a slow bus from Grupo Vencedor.

Getting around

Grupo Vencedor is the regional bus company of the area. Nothing fancy, but you’ll see a bus passing by at least once an hour. It will easily get you to Landa and Conca from Jalpan. Here is their schedule (no pre-booking).

Tilaco and Tancoyol lie some 10-20km from the main road. I took a taxi from Landa to Tilaco (500 pesos return inc waiting time). The taxi driver also wanted to take me to Tancoyol, but to fork out another 20 EUR …

This will be a short review, more of an update maybe because there are already many reviews but nothing since 2014. The Sierra Gorda biosphere alone is worth visiting so the churches are maybe more of a bonus. The windy roads don't make for a fun ride if you have to deal with trucks slowing down the traffic to 20km/h and little chances to overtake most of the way. Mexican drivers can be very patient and stick behind the truck for a loooong time.

They look in good condition nowadays, almost as if they're new. I visited two of the churches on a Sunday, Jalpan was super busy and the church closed for celebrations. Landa was deserted and open. One can spend time inside but there honestly isn't much to see but for the ceiling decorations so I didn't miss much at the first church? The facades are what make the churches unique. So I stare at them for a while to see what's on display before moving on. Beautiful.

We've visited 4 out of 5 missions inscribed in this WHS during our Queretaro trip on October 2014. The missions are very similar and they show some of the characteristics of the about 2 centuries older missions around Popocatepetl, like the open chapel at the side of the church.

Luckily for us the restoration project seen by Paul Tanner is over, and all the facades look like they've just been cleaned (they are protected only with a net, probably against birds). It took about 3.5 hours driving from Queretaro to Jalpan. We first visited Mission Conca, which shows many mesoamerican elements in the facade (climbing lions, "indio" faces, many natural elements). Mission Jalpan shows more traditional catholic elements (only saints and natural elements). Mission Landa was the most spectacular for us, showing both religious and mesoamerican elements. It also shows the representation of 2 religious sitting with a desk (one each side of the facade), with a 3-D effect which we found amazing. Mission Tilaco had the particular feature (as in Landa) of the sirens (marmaids) on the facade. We only missed the mission of Tancoyol due to time constraints. Out of the 4 missions visited, only Mission Jalpan is at the center of a very active urban center. We found Jalpan as a true gem in the Sierra (it's indeed a so-called Pueblo Magico). The Sierra Gorda itself it's spectatular with the many natural wonders, its aspect varying from desert (with many cactus) to forest to jungle. We loved …

We visited the five missions in the Sierra Gorda area in 2007. We are from Lompoc, California, USA. We have visited all of the missions in California and other states. We flew into Quanajato airport, rented a car, then drove to Quetero for 2 days. We drove from there to all five of the Sierra Gorda Missions...stayed one night in Jalpan. We continued on to Xilitla and the Las Posas...the Gardens of Edward James, staying in his home(El Castillo). Was a great trip...driving back to San Miguel Allende for a few days, which we have visited before...2nd stay at Casa de la Cuesta. Overall a great & memorable trip. We have seen all the California missions and several in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas...so we were on a quest.

If (as we did) you travel round Central Mexico on a “World Heritage quest” you are going to look at a lot of churches, cathedrals, missions, convents and monasteries dating from the 16th to the 18th century! The problem for the non expert (which includes us!) is what to make of all this in terms of its architectural and historical significance. We dutifully visited 4 of the 5 Sierra Gorda missions, giving them half a day within a very crowded schedule. The visits were pleasant enough but only now on our return home can I fit them into the overall picture.

The Sierra Gorda is wild, relatively empty country and a World Biosphere Reserve “for its eco-diversity due to its … position at the meeting point of the Nearctic and Neotropical bioregions. (It) presents great physiographic complexity, with altitudes ranging from 300 meters above sea level … (at) Jalpan … to 3,100 meters … at the summit….”. The drive from the city of Queretaro, set in the hot plains of Mexico’s “bajio” to the Sierra Gorda Missions takes you to the summit referred to above and then down to the town of Jalpan. With stops, for instance, at the Tentative List site of “Bernal”, it will take you best part of a half a day on a hard and twisting drive.

For the sort of geographic reasons implied above and because of continuing conflicts over silver etc this land wasn’t pacified and settled until much later than other parts of …