Introduction
178km (110 miles) SW of Mexico City; 80km (50 miles) SW of Cuernavaca; 296km (184 miles) NE of Acapulco
In Mexico and around the world, the town of Taxco de Alarcón -- most commonly known simply as Taxco ( tahs-koh) -- is synonymous with silver. The town's geography and architecture are equally precious: Taxco sits at nearly 1,515m (4,969 ft.) on a hill among hills, and almost any point in the city offers fantastic views.
Hernán Cortez discovered Taxco as he combed the area for treasure, but its rich caches of silver weren't fully exploited for another 2 centuries. In 1751, the French prospector Joseph de la Borda -- who came to be known locally as José -- commissioned the baroque Santa Prisca Church that dominates Taxco's zócalo (Plaza Borda) as a way of giving something back to the town. In the mid-1700s, Borda was considered the richest man in New Spain.
The fact that Taxco has become Mexico's most renowned center for silver design, even though it now mines only a small...
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Santa Prisca y San Sebastián Church
This is Taxco's centerpiece parish church; it faces the pleasant Plaza Borda. José de la Borda, a French miner who struck it rich in Taxco's silver...
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Los Castillo
Don Antonio Castillo was one of hundreds of young men to whom William Spratling taught silversmithing in the 1930s. He was also one of the first...
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Spratling Ranch Workshop
William Spratling's hacienda-style home and workshop on the outskirts of Taxco still bustles with busy hands reproducing unique designs. A trip...
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