The capital of the state of Querétaro and the gateway to the 16th Century missions of Fray Junipero Serra located in the rugged Sierra Gorda mountains. This is a city of elegant buildings incorporating droll and whimsical architectural elements. The Church of Santa Rosa de Viterbo features leering faces on its most unusual buttresses - a bold response from the architect to a public critical of his style.

  At the Templo and Ex-Convento of Santa Cruz, the room in which the Emperor Maximilian spent his last hours retains its melancholia; in the courtyard grows a mysterious tree with cross-shaped thorns that is unknown elsewhere in the world. This is a city to be leisurely strolled through, stopping to visit the Museo Regional, a small but choice anthropological museum and the Museo de Arte de Querétaro, housed in an former monastery dating from the 18th century, which features ongoing exhibitions of contemporary art as well as a collection of early religious painting and sculpture.

  To complete the day, we can stop by the various gem shops selling the opals for which Querétaro is famous.

   Special trips to visit the missions in the Sierra Gorda and the gardens of Edward James at Xilitla may also be arranged as an overnight tour.

Length of Tour: 6 - 8 hours.

Finding the perfect opal in Queretaro.

"When you said, 'You'll be seeing one drop dead church after another', you weren't kidding.  After seeing many churches in Europe we really weren't expecting the magnificence of those in Querétaro. We particularly enjoyed the anthropology museum, and lunch at the Hacienda with the musicians was another unexpected treat --- even the ant eggs! Thank's for being such a 'cultural explorer' for us."

Inside the opulent lobby of the Casa de la Marquesa in Queretaro. A former 19th c. home built for a Nun... and this is not she!

Pedestrian walkway in Querétaro.

Detail from retablo, image of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Santa Rosa de Viterbo.