-Hidalgo del Parral: in 1923, famous Francisco
"Pancho" Villa, hero of the Mexican Revolution, was murdered in
this city, located at 232 kilometres from
Chihuahua,
at an altitude of 1965 metres above sea level.
Commonly known as Parral, the city was founded in 1629 by royal second lieutenant Juan Rangel de Biesma, being since always the extraction of silver its main economic activity.
Before the arrival of the Spaniards, the zone was inhabited by different indigenous groups, amongst them the Tarahumaras or Rarámuris, whose descendants come nowadays to the city to sell their handicrafts.
From its colonial roots it shows majestic temples with pride, such as the Parish of San Jose, which dates back to the XVII century and has beautiful baroque altarpieces, and the Church of Our Lady of Lightning, raised in the XVIII century.
Its splendid houses are also notable, as is the case of the Alvarado Palace, one of the most beautiful in the city, and the Stallfurth House, with exquisite decorations.
On the other hand, most of the most famous Mexican chilli is harvested in the fields of Hidalgo del Parral, which are amongst the most fertile in the state.
-Juarez City: the origins of this city located
on the banks of the Bravo River date back to the last years of the
XVI century, when Juan de Oñate arrived in the zone baptising it
with the name of Northern Pass. With him arrived the religious of
the Franciscan Order, who founded the Mission of Our lady of Guadalupe,
giving place to the surging of the first urban constructions, amongst
them a precious church.
In 1888 the State Congress decided to rename the city with the name of Juarez, remembering the heroic defence of the national sovereignty led by Benito Juarez, who presided the emergency government that faced the French forces who invaded Mexico in 1865. During this period the Northern Pass was the provisional capital of the Republic.
Within the urban context, you should visit the Historic Museum, the place where presidents of Mexico and the United States, Porfirio Diaz and William H. Taff respectively, met to deal with a border dispute. Years later, the Agreement of Juarez City, the document that would put an end to the Mexican Revolution, would be signed in this city.
Nowadays the city shows an important industrial development due to the existence of hundreds of weaving machines.
It is located 375 kilometres north of
Chihuahua
at an altitude of 1144 metres above sea level; Juarez City limits
with the City of El Paso, in the United States.