Salamanca, Mexico
Tourism

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plateau extending over parts of the states of Guanajuato and Querétaro. Although famed for its large petroleum refinery, the town in fact contains one of the country's most richly-decorated churches.

History

In the pre-Spanish period the Otomí settlement of Xidoo was situated here. After the Spanish influx the brothers Juan and Sancho Barahoma, the owners of a hacienda, gave the settlement the name Salamanca. The official foundation date of the town is given as 1603. During the 17th and 18th c. there was much building activity here by the Church. Like all settlements in Mexico's heartland, Salamanca also played a part in the Mexican War of Independence (1810-21). The Revolution in the 20th c. and the ensuing epidemics caused relapses in the development of the region. In the last 40 years there has been considerable agricultural and industrial growth from which the town of Salamanca has also profited.