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El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
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How it came to be
In 1546 an expedition led by Juan de Tolosa brought back ore from the Cerro de la Bufa at Zacatecas that proved rich in silver. A road grew north from Mexico City to carry silver from Zacatecas, Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí, with mercury from Europe travelling the other way, and it stayed in use for about 300 years, from the mid-16th to the 19th century.
In 1598 Juan de Oñate's expedition crossed the Río del Norte, the Rio Grande, and the road was extended into present-day New Mexico. It ran about 2,560 km from Mexico City to San Juan Pueblo; supply caravans for the missions and presidios left Mexico City every three years, and the journey took about six months. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680 drove the Spanish out of New Mexico, but the Crown kept a supply link to the north.
Railways replaced it, and its working life ended in 1882. About 650 km in the United States became a National Historic Trail in 2000, and in 2010 UNESCO inscribed 55 sites and five existing World Heritage properties along some 1,400 km of the route in Mexico.
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