Alamos Attractions

Inland, 53km/33mi east of Navojoa, lies the old mining town of Álamos (alt. 410 m (1345 ft); population 20,000). The Festival of the Conception of the Virgin Mary is celebrated on December 8th, and the town is now protected as a national monument. After the discovery of gold and silver here in 1680 the town grew rapidly and 100 years later had a population of over 30,000. Its decline began with the fall in silver prices, and thereafter raids by the warlike Mayo Indians and the turmoil of the revolutionary wars reduced it to a mere ghost town. Then after the Second World War a group of artists from the United States settled in Álamos and began to restore some of the old buildings. The Casa de los Tesoros and the Palacio Almada are now hotels. Other features of interest include the parish church, the House of Mexican Folk Art and the pottery centre of La Uvulama. In recent years many retired people from the USA have come to àlamos, building houses in an "Americanised" version of the colonial style.