El Oro, the magical mining town in Mexico

Witness to a glorious mining past, the magical town of El Oro offers majestic natural attractions such as forests, dams, and a Monarch butterfly sanctuary, even a step through the history of the railroads and mines that gave Mexico the foundations of its economic development. Its architectural elements, such as the Juarez Theater or the Municipal Palace, combine with these natural settings and form an atmosphere where past and present come together.

El Oro, located in the north of the State of Mexico and adjacent to Michoacán, is located an hour and a half from the capital Toluca, two and a half hours from Mexico City, represents today, the history of the bonanza that produced the mining exploitation in Mexico.

Also known as Real del Oro, this town was founded in the eighteenth century, as it grew thanks to the development of mines such as La Esperanza or La Providencia, which attracted people from all over the world, particularly English companies. For this reason, its constructions, such as the Teatro Juárez or the Municipal Palace, reflect the European styles of the time such as Art Nouveau and Neoclassical.

The site museum, located in a house from the time of the Porfiriato, offers a step through the history of mining in the area, through minerals, machinery, photographs, plans, and other documents of the late eighteenth century. Another of the tourist attractions of El Oro is its train station, inaugurated in 1889, as well as a quaint restaurant that was assembled inside one of the wagons that served on the railroad.

There is also the North Tire, a structure that still keeps its original state and that held the pulleys that descended the miners and raised the gold and silver, recounts one of the tourist guides who kindly tell visitors the history of this miner town.

"It has a depth of 493 meters, is the only wood that is preserved in the country and in 2011 it was given maintenance to stop its deterioration." When climbing to the top, a telescope allows observing a more detailed image of this area, while below, a glass floor shows the depth of the mine.

For those who practice extreme sports, El Oro offers a rappel of 40 meters, two zip lines more than one hundred meters long, and 70 meters high, in addition to hiking, because the surroundings of this magical town are covered by lush forests of pine and cedar. These forests also protect the Brockman and Victoria Dams, which offer the best sunsets insight, while in San José del Rincón is one of the Monarch Butterfly sanctuaries, which are painted orange and black, from November to March.

The 35 thousand inhabitants of this municipality are dedicated to agriculture, trade, and crafts, which include products made with wool, paillery, work in brass and leather pyrography, offered to tourists in the Market of Crafts.

El Oro also invites the traditional drink known as "chiva", of green color and made by hand with anise and a mixture of herbs, which according to the tenants located in front of the theater, serves to cure fright. Thus, El Oro, a memory of a people who brought their colonial progress in mining and who until today delights the senses with beautiful landscapes full of history and mystery.