Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 8, 1990 TAG: 9004080311
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY ELOY O. AGUILAR ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: TAXCO, MEXICO LENGTH: Medium
"We are honest people, we do not do things we are not supposed to," he explained to a visitor concerned about parking a car nearby.
But in addition to honest people, Jesus' hometown of Taxco, little more than two hours away from Mexico City, offers a capsule of Mexico's rich history from pre-Hispanic days through the era of colonial legends to the present.
At night, seen from the roof of a church of a neighoring town across a valley, Taxco rests sparkling on the side of a dark mountain made hollow by hundreds of years of gold and silver mining by Indians, Spaniards and Mexicans.
By day, the city of nearly 130,000 people is a small tableau of whitewashed homes and narrow, winding streets dominated by the two towers of The Santa Prisca Church, built in 1748.
In Aztec days Taxco Indians paid tribute in blocks of gold and silver, according to legend. Now, tourists flock to Taxco to buy the silver handicrafts produced by scores of families who have made a living of the art for generations.
There still are several silver mines in operation now run by the government, but the silver used in town by the artisans comes from the Central Bank in Mexico City.
A visitor can buy wholesale silver-plated bracelets for a few dollars, pay $90 for a ceramic and silver dinner plate, or spend as much as $5,000 for a flower vase with silver and conch shell designs.
At the Los Castillo shop, the vistors can watch artisans at their trade.
Nearby at the Elena Ballesteros shop, visitors are shown masterpieces combining coral and silver that won awards at the annual national competition.
"The Europeans and the Japanese buy the expensive pieces," said a shop attendant. "The Americans want to buy souvenirs."
Tourists walk the narrow streets, climbing to the small plaza in front of the Santa Prisca Church. They wander in and out of shops where, in addition to silver works, they can find colorful baskets, paintings and antiques like an 1887 edition of Don Quixote.
"I came here to study architecture," said Hugo Fernando Lopez, standing in front of his store made out of a large hole carved on the side of the mountain. "I started working with silver, and then I opened this shop. And now I spend a lot of time going around looking for antiques. I'll never leave."
Young Jesus has no plans to leave, either. At 14, he already has taken several courses in the local tourism school run by the government and speaks with the authority of an expert as he shows tourists the church and its surrounding areas while going on about Taxco's history.
"Santa Prisca was a young Roman virgin who was thrown to the lions by a Roman emperor, but the lions would not touch her because she was a saint, so the emperor ordered her beheaded," Jesus tells visitors to the church in an almost devout manner showing them a painting in one of the church naves.
He guides the visitors around to a side entrance "because we must respect those who are praying," to show them an altar with a copy of a monstrance, or receptacle for the Holy Host. The original weighed about 31 pounds in gold and is now at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
The church is a colonial jewel, with two large towers made of pink stone that are among the best examples of the 18th century churrigueresque style (after the Spanish architect Jose Churriguera), often described as an exuberant baroque.
It was built by Don Jose de la Borda, who came to Taxco as a young man of 16 and made - and lost - fortunes mining silver.
"God gives to La Borda and La Borda gives to God," reads his family's motto, explaining his generosity to the church.
European artisans were brought in to build the church. An 18th century German organ is still played, and the church's elaborate, carved-wood altars are gold-plated.
Taxco is a short ride down from the Mexico City Valley south toward Cuernavaca and then through the mountains on the highway to the Pacific resort of Acapulco.
Its hotels can accommodate 895. They range from small hotels without television in the downtown area to the five-star Monte Taxco hotel atop the mountain.
Nearly 8,000 foreign tourists visit Taxco every month. Mexicans like it, too, and about 9,000 of them also visit the town every month.
"Have you ever seen a sunset where the sky turns gold all around over the mountains?" said longtime resident Armando Rodriguez. "You can see it here."
by CNB