Zacatecas is for you if you like: Hiking, architecture, giant statues of Jesus
It probably isn’t the first state that springs to mind when you think of Mexico, but the rugged highland state of Zacatecas is well worth checking out. Built on the back of the silver trade, its eponymous capital is famed for its pink stone colonial buildings. Venture outside the city and you’ll find a land of dramatic canyons and ancient history.
At Mexico News Daily, we’ve spent years covering Zacatecas through the eyes of travelers, expats, and locals who know it best. We’ve gathered our finest travel pieces — hidden towns, cultural landmarks, road trips and a statue of Jesus Christ that looks bizarrely like Phil Collins — into one essential guide for anyone ready to discover this underrated gem.
Zacatecas chosen as best cultural city in 2020 poll
Think culture in Mexico and most people jump straight to Mexico City or Oaxaca. Think again. In a poll by the popular tourism site México Desconocido Zacatecas landed in first place as the country’s most culturally appealing city, with 26% of respondents choosing it over Mexico City and San Luis Potosí. The highland city, built from rosy pink quarry stone, holds more museums than any Mexican city outside the capital, including the Museo Rafael Coronel, home to the nation’s largest mask collection. Toss in a 300-year-old aqueduct, a UNESCO World Heritage historic center, and the haunted echoes of Pancho Villa’s fiercest Revolutionary battle, and you start to understand why this city captures hearts.
Almost as many legends surround Zacatecas’ House of 100 Doors
Just 15 minutes outside Zacatecas city, in a dusty community called Tacoaleche, sits one of the most romance-soaked buildings in all of Mexico. The House of 100 Doors — a sprawling two-story adobe hacienda covering a quarter hectare — was reportedly built in the late 19th century by a man desperately in love, on condition that the marriage would follow only once the home boasted 100 doors. It never did. Or maybe it did, and she counted wrong. Or maybe she never intended to marry him at all. The legends multiply.
Today, after a 10 million peso restoration (US $577,000), the building houses the Center for Research and Experimentation in Zacatecas Folk Art, with a permanent collection of over 1,000 handcrafted works. The ghost of the heartbroken builder is said to still roam the halls.
Cerro del Teúl in Zacatecas: 1-kilometer trail through 18 centuries of history
Mexico isn’t short on ancient history, so why should Zacatecas be any different? The remarkable promise of Cerro del Teúl, an archaeological site in the southern Zacatecas town of Teúl de González Ortega, a Pueblo Mágico about 100 kilometers north of Guadalajara. Archaeologists Laura Solar and Peter Jiménez spent 10 years excavating and studying this mountain, which was occupied continuously for 17 to 19 centuries — making it a rare window into the full sweep of northwestern Mexican prehistory.
Along the trail you’ll pass a ball court, an ancient ceremonial plaza, a shelter cave with seats carved into living rock, and a hauntingly preserved shaft tomb. There’s even a free GPS-guided app to accompany you. The well-paved streets of the town below, the stately mountain above — in a country with so many amazing ruins, it’s rare to find one this distinct from the others. Don’t skip it.
Zacatecas’ baby Jesus statue gets a makeover
The world’s largest baby Jesus statue, a 6.5-meter, 750-kilogram behemoth installed in the Church of the Epiphany in Guadalupe, Zacatecas, caused an immediate uproar on social media when it debuted — with social media users comparing its face to Phil Collins and Nicolas Cage, and editing it into monster-movie clips. Authorities responded by modifying the statue’s face: bangs were added to the forehead and its eyes were changed from blue to brown to give it a more childlike appearance. A bishop, a governor, and a full house of 400 faithful turned out for the re-reveal ceremony.
Pilgrims and curious travelers now make the trip just to see it and you could too.
Zacatecas, down 83%, leads nationwide reduction in homicides: Tuesday’s mañanera recapped
For anyone whose image of Zacatecas is shaped by its troubled recent past, think again: no other state in Mexico has worked so hard to improve safety.
What it means practically is that a destination with extraordinary things to offer — a UNESCO-listed colonial city, a canyon landscape anchoring the largest Christ statue in Latin America and pre-Hispanic archaeological sites that most foreign visitors have never heard of — is becoming straightforwardly accessible again.
Zacatecas never lacked for reasons to visit. It lacked the safety conditions that made visiting feel sensible. Those conditions have changed significantly, and the travelers who pay attention to that shift, rather than waiting for the broader perception to catch up, tend to be the ones who get a place while it still feels like a discovery.
How to get there
By air
Zacatecas International Airport: Though the airport is modest, it offers flights to Los Angeles, San Jose, Dallas and Chicago. Domestically, the airport links to Guadalajara, Mexico City and Tijuana.
Aguascalientes International Airport: A modest 138 km (85 miles) away, Aguascalientes offers the same international flights but a much larger selection of domestic destinations, making it a more attractive proposition for beach getaways.
By road
Mazatlán: 540 km (335 miles), roughly a 7 hour drive.
Guadalajara: 357 km (222 miles), roughly a 5 hour drive.
Puerto Vallarta: 658 km (409 miles), roughly a 9 hour drive.
San Miguel de Allende: 360 km (224 miles), roughly a 4 hour drive.
Eagle Pass, Texas: 810 km (503 miles), roughly a 9 hour drive.
Mexico News Daily
