Guadalcázar, San Luis Potosí
Encyclopedia
Guadalcázar is a small, municipal town located in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí
.
. In the decades following its creation, Guadalcazar flourished as a wealthy town. Its main exports were coal
, iron
, silver
, and other industrial
materials. This was because of the many hills rich with minerals surrounding the town. After all the minerals apparently were exhausted from the hills in the early twentieth century, the population slowly diminished.
.
The re-population of Guadalcazar has also increased due to many American miners looking for precious minerals. Minerals have been located deep within hillsides, and the mining process is beginning once again. Despite this change in attention, Guadalcazar's population has hovered steadily between 500 and 900 residents, the majority being elderly.
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí....
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History
The town was one of the many colonies founded by Spanish explorer Juan Cordoba de GuadalcazarDiego Fernández de Córdoba, Marquis of Guadalcázar
Diego Fernández de Córdoba y López de las Roelas, Marquis of Guadalcázar and Count of Posadas , was Viceroy of Mexico from October 18, 1612 to March 14, 1621 and Viceroy of Peru from July 25, 1622 to January 14, 1629.-Early life:He was born in Seville.In 1598, aged 20, he was in Central Europe,...
. In the decades following its creation, Guadalcazar flourished as a wealthy town. Its main exports were coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, and other industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
materials. This was because of the many hills rich with minerals surrounding the town. After all the minerals apparently were exhausted from the hills in the early twentieth century, the population slowly diminished.
Modern economy and culture
Guadalcazar changed little for nearly half a century, until recently the Mexican government recognized the churches that were built during the town's creation as being of great historical importance. Since then, media attention has been increasing on Guadalcazar, and it is now being considered a place of tourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
.
The re-population of Guadalcazar has also increased due to many American miners looking for precious minerals. Minerals have been located deep within hillsides, and the mining process is beginning once again. Despite this change in attention, Guadalcazar's population has hovered steadily between 500 and 900 residents, the majority being elderly.