Santiago de Querétaro, the capital and largest city of the state of Querétaro, located in central Mexico, at 213km northwest of Mexico City, was founded on 25 July 1531, when during a battle between the Spanish and the natives of the area, an eclipse occurred during which Saint James on a white horse carrying a pink cross supposedly appeared, causing the natives of the areas to surrender. The old colonial town of Querétaro is unusual in having retained the geometric street plan of the Spanish conquerors side by side with the twisting alleys of the Indian quarters. The Otomi, the Tarasco, the Chichimeca and the Spanish lived together peacefully in the town, which is notable for the many ornate civil and religious Baroque monuments from its golden age in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The site, designated UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, covers 4 sq. km with 203 blocks, containing 1400 designated monuments, of which twenty are religious and fifteen are used for public services. The many non-religious buildings in Querétaro, again mostly Baroque, are not innovative or exceptional in plan. Their special significance lies in the design and construction of a wide range of multilobate arches, to be found only in the interiors of the houses and palaces, which give the Baroque architecture of Querétaro an exceptional and original character. An major attraction is its 74-arched aqueduct, designed in 1723 by Juan Antonio de Urrutia y Arana, Marquis of Villa del Villar del Aquila (who was inspired by the aqueducts of Segovia, Merida and Tarragona in Spain), and built between 1726 and 1738. The aqueduct is 1,280m long, and rises 23m above street level and conveyed drinking water to the city from regional springs until 1970.
About the stamps
The stamps are part of the series México creación popular (Folk Art Mexico), about which I wrote here.
References
Querétaro, Querétaro - Wikipedia
Historic Monuments Zone of Querétaro - UNESCO official website
Queretaro Aqueduct - asce.org
sender: Ivinha
sent from Mexico City (Federal District / Mexico), on 20.02.2014
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