El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve (World Heritage)
In this world natural heritage, two contrasts of nature are combined on an area of 714,566 hectares: the volcanic mountain group El Pinacate with fields of black and red lava and the approximately 5,000 km² large altar desert, which is famous for its up to 200 m high sand dunes. This extraordinary combination is home to rare animal and plant species, a place of bizarre beauty and of great interest to science.
El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve: facts Hide table
| Official title: | El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve |
| Natural monument: | 7,145 km² biosphere reserve in northern Mexico on the border with Arizona, consisting of two sites: the volcanic mountain group El Pinacate (1,190 m) with fields of black and red lava and enormous craters as well as around 5,000 km² altar desert with a variety of sand dunes up to up to 200 m high; rich fauna and flora with 540 species of plants, 40 species of mammals, 200 species of birds, 40 reptiles as well as amphibians and freshwater fish; Home to critically endangered species such as pronghorn, bighorn shank, gila crustacean and California desert tortoise |
| Continent: | North and Central America |
| Country: | Mexico |
| Location: | Puerto Peñasco, Sonora State, Northern Mexico |
| Appointment: | 2013 |
| Meaning: | Site of unique natural beauty with enormous contrasts between desert and volcanic landscape; Due to the extraordinarily diverse combination of landscape features, it is the place of extensive scientific research |
Yagul and Mitla Caves (World Heritage)
The world heritage site consists of two archaeological complexes from pre-Columbian times as well as some prehistoric caves and rock shelters. Rock paintings show the transition from nomadic to peasantry. Ten thousand year old seeds from one of the caves are the oldest evidence of cultivated plants on the entire continent.
Yagul and Mitla Caves: Facts
| Official title: | Prehistoric caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Oaxaca Valley |
| Cultural monument: | Archaeological sites and caves in the Tlacolula Valley in central Oaxaca in southern Mexico; in Guilá Naquitz, Cueva Blanca and Gheo Shih discovery of 10,000 year old seeds and stone tools |
| Continent: | America |
| Country: | Mexico |
| Location: | Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca State, southern Mexico |
| Appointment: | 2010 |
| Meaning: | Outstanding testimony to the prehistoric development of agriculture and the evolution from hunter-gatherer cultures to agrarian societies |
Historic Silver Route (World Heritage)
According to ezinereligion, the trade route stretches over 2,600 km from Mexico City to Santa Fe in New Mexico (USA). On a 1400 km long section, 55 places have been declared world cultural heritage. The trade in silver and mercury gave the route its name. It flourished from the mid-16th to the 19th century.
Historic Silver Route: Facts
| Official title: | Historic trade route Camino Real de Tierra Adentro – »Silver Route« |
| Cultural monument: | 2600 km long historical trade route from Mexico City to Texas and New Mexico, 1400 km of which is World Heritage; the route used from the middle of the 16th century to the 19th century for silver from the Zacatecas, Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí mines in Mexico and for imported mercury from Europe; Creation of a comprehensive social, cultural and economic structure along the route with 55 sites (five of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites), including bridges, former haciendas, trading stations, historic towns, cemeteries, mines, churches etc.; Opening up North America for the silver trade through the trade route and thus the nucleus of the mixing of Spanish and North American cultures |
| Continent: | America |
| Country: | Mexico |
| Location: | Mexico City to Valle de Allende, New Mexico, USA |
| Appointment: | 2010 |
| Meaning: | Exceptional testimony to an economic, cultural and social structure based on a trade route; Document of a comprehensive economic development of a colonial area; outstanding source of intercultural exchange |
Tequila landscape (world heritage)
The city of Tequila and its surroundings in the state of Jalisco has been shaped by the production of tequila since the 16th century. The world heritage includes the agave landscape, the production facilities with the distilleries and numerous haciendas. They testify to the connection between European technology and the ancient tradition of Central America.
Tequila landscape: facts
| Official title: | Agave landscape and historical tequila production sites |
| Cultural monument: | Agricultural area between the Tequila volcano and the valley of the Rio Grande for the cultivation of the “blue agave” (Agave Tequiliana Weber azul, form of Agave atrovirens); extensive cultivation areas on 347 km² for the extraction of their juice and its fermentation into »pulque« (cultivation for 2,000 years); from this since the 16th century distillation of a special form of the Mexican brandy mescal, the »tequila« (colorless, brownish due to barrel storage; about 43-45 percent alcohol by volume); World heritage site with agave fields and the settlements of Tequila, Arenal and Amatitan with distilleries and haciendas |
| Continent: | America |
| Country: | Mexico |
| Location: | Tequila, Jalisco State, 60 km northwest of Guadalajara |
| Appointment: | 2006 |
| Meaning: | Example of a landscape shaped by a centuries-old, unique agricultural culture; Expression of the national identity of Mexico; Testimony of the Tuchtitlan cultures with the first form of the extensive economic use of the agave (200 to 900) |
Tequila landscape: history
| 16th century | Probably the first distillation of brandy from the agave plant »Agave Tequilana Weber« |
| 16.-17. Century | Temporary ban on production |
| 17th century | Removal of the ban on making spirits and levying a tax |
| 20th century | Tequila drink known worldwide through export |
