This photo journal, the 2nd & last in my Pozos series, features 4 abandoned mines in the area.
Pozos - The sight of ruins draped in vines, along with long neglected centuries old haciendas, in such a primal desert landscape evoked a sense of time and place reminiscent of Tuscany colored by a Mexican paintbrush.
The beginning: Pozos, which was founded in 1576 as an army outpost to protect the ore wagons between Zacatecas and San Luis de la Paz, was blessed with deep seams of gold and silver and became one of the
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"Santa Brigida mine" These much-photographed "pyramids" are actually smelting furnaces...
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Oldest mine in the area The Santa Brigida mine, the only one that is east of town, is the...
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Built by the Jesuits These were built in 1576 by Jesuit priests who had arrived in nearby...
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Mining at Santa Brigida then continued for almost 200 years until the Jesuits were expelled from New Spain.
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Smoke stack The mine site is at the end of a rutted & rough dirt road 5 kms NE...
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Ruins everywhere
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More ruins Sorry, I can't identify all of the structures. Anyone seeing this want to...
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yet more.........
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Air vents?
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Interesting doorway
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This old smelting furnace, which was was farther away, is much different that the 'pyramid'...
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One of the air vents?
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Distant view of a large structure.
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Closeup of that structure
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Raimundo's place Raimundo Torres, age 79, who worked the mines until they closed in...
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Huge maguey plants , also known as agave, are everywhere. These are an indispensable ingredient in...
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Mine owner's ex-Hacienda An attempt was made in later years to convert the abandoned hacienda into a...
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The cactus view
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The mine ruins "WEST" of town I'm pretty sure this is one of the Cinco Senores (5 men) mine sites....
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Cinco Senores (cs) All of the west sites now have barbed wire fences & no trespassing...
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cs The road to the west mines winds through a silent maze of shattered walls,...
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cs Cinco Senores is one of three abandoned mine sites remaining in the...
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