Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda
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How it came to be
The Sierra Gorda is a rugged range in northern Querétaro, central Mexico, where the Pame and other peoples long resisted Spanish rule. Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans attempted missions in the 16th and 17th centuries, but most were never finished or were destroyed soon after they were built. After José de Escandón's campaigns brought the area under military control in the 1740s, a decision of 1744 set up five missions: Jalpan, Concá, Tancoyol, Landa and Tilaco.
Building began in earnest in 1750 to 1751 under the Franciscan friar Junípero Serra, who served here from 1750 to 1758. The first church, at Jalpan, was built between 1751 and 1758. Pame labourers did the construction, and the brightly coloured plaster façades include local images such as rabbits and jaguars.
The mission work was complete by 1770, and the missions were secularised. Their gilded altarpieces were destroyed in the conflicts of the 19th century, and some missions were at times abandoned in the 20th, but restoration followed in the 1990s and the five missions were inscribed as a World Heritage site in 2003.
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