Pachuca, State capital in central Mexico
Pachuca is the capital of Hidalgo state in the central highlands and rests at 2382 meters altitude in the Sierra Madre Oriental range. Streets wind between hillsides, surrounded by old silver mines and newer neighborhoods of painted houses.
The Spanish crown founded the settlement in 1534 to extract the rich silver deposits of the region. Bartolomé de Medina developed a mercury extraction method here in the 16th century that changed mining worldwide.
Miners from Cornwall brought football and a folded pastry filled with meat or beans to Hidalgo in the 19th century, and both remain central to daily life today. You will find these pastries sold at almost every corner, eaten at any hour and part of everyday routines.
Federal Highway 85 connects the city directly to Mexico City, and regular buses depart from Carlos Balmori Martínez Terminal. The climate at this elevation brings cool evenings even when the sun shines during the day.
The National Photography Museum holds 850,000 original photographs documenting 160 years of Mexican life. You can browse through decades of everyday routines, work and celebrations as if the past were within reach.
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