Today I decided to tell you a little about the center of the city of Zacatecas, which is the place where all the most beautiful history and architecture of the city is found, and it is the heart of the cultural festivals in the city and where the whole atmosphere is experienced.
The historic downtown is actually small, it takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes to walk the main street, but it is worth admiring and knowing each of its buildings.
We will start with the CALDERON THEATER, which is next to the gorditas doña julia, on Hidalgo street, which is one of the main streets that runs through the entire downtown of the city.
The tour in the center of the city of Zacatecas can be done perfectly at your own times, but if you want to have the experience and knowledge of a guide, here I leave you options for tours in Zacatecas
This theater remains open to the general public for those who want to know its interior, but I hope you are lucky to get some cultural event inside the theater, so you can enjoy the majesty of the building accompanied by excellent acoustics
This theater has an interesting history, it is a theater that dates back to the end of the 19th century, at the time of General Jesus Arechiga, it is one of the most recognized historical theaters in Mexico. About 10 years ago it was remodeled, they changed the seats, lighting and the floor of the theater. It was a very hard work they did but the results were very good.
A curious fact is that this theater has been through several fires, the first of them in 1889 during the preparations for an event, some time later the building was damaged again as a victim of the destruction of the taking of Zacatecas. Later, the Calderón theater passed from owner to owner, being the home of various types of events such as cinema, boxing, and a venue used for political speeches. Currently the theater is in the position of the highest house of studies in Zacatecas, the Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas, giving it good use and maintenance.
In Downtown we can also visit the Gonzales Ortega Market, the land of this place used to serve as a popular tianguis, some time later with the governor Marcelino Morfin Chávez, the construction of a market was decided, a building that would help to protect the merchants
As a curious fact, the ironwork roof that this majestic market has was transported from the United States, as well as it came to replace the Calderón theater to be a house for cultural events, this was when the Calderón theater was under reconstruction due to the fire that affected it, also the fact that this market had a third floor, but because of a fire that was caused by a cigarette butt accidentally thrown into flammable products, it was decided to rebuild the market but now with only two floors so that it could be seen better the buildings around it, like the cathedral.
During this period of the fire, the citizens proposed to support the victims, carrying out a bullfight to raise funds, as well as granting a permit for the merchants to continue their work on Aguascalientes street, which is the street that goes up right next to the market.
Currently this market has commercial premises inside where you can find from Zacatecano wine, Zacatecano sweets, souvenir shops and products for charrería, this on the second floor. On the first floor, there are restaurants such as "La Cantera Musical", a bar and a library. Currently it also serves as a venue for cultural events and on Wednesdays as danzón Wednesdays where people who are fans of this genre meet to dance.
During our tour in the historic center we can also visit the Wonderful Cathedral with this beautiful style that is the baroque
The interior of the Zacatecas Cathedral was recently remodeled and now has a modern-style altar, which caused a lot of controversy when it was revealed to the Zacatecas public, since many people commented that the style of the new altar did not respect the old style of Cathedral. A curious fact is that it is well known by the population of Zacatecas that the center of the city has thousands of underground tunnels, where the catacombs are located, in fact, the cathedral has access to these catacombs, and during the remodeling it had to to be opened and they found mummies inside the catacomb, if you walk on the right side of the cathedral (facing the altar) you will find this entrance on the floor, However, it is closed to the public.
We can also take a look at the most traditional cafe-restaurant in Zacatecas "La Acropolis" which also houses important works of art by renowned painters. This cafe is located right next to the cathedral, in one of the corners of the Gonzales Ortega market.
We can also visit the Mezcal store "al son del mezcal" that is located next to the gorditas Doña Julia, here you will find a wide variety of mezcal and liquors, some if not most of them produced in Zacatecas, the Mezcal the most traditional alcoholic beverage of Zacatecas. A perfect souvenir to take in the collection of small bottles of mezcal "El Zacatecano".
We can also visit the former temple of San Agustín, which currently serves as a house for art exhibitions or for concerts or very exclusive events.
Zacatecas, for being a very cultural and touristic city, has many lodging options that will surely adapt to your needs.
In the historic center you can see many interesting buildings and shops, it is also very beautiful to walk through it at night.
KNOWING THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY IS WORTH IT!
YOU WILL LOVE IT!
