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A Mine, a Church, and one Bizarre Museum by Les Copan

“Let me find gold, O Lord, and I will build a temple of gold to honour you.”
Such was the gist of the prayer offered by Antonio Obregon before he started prospecting in the Guanajuato area.

Eight years previous, in 1550, a lowly mule skinner named Raya had discovered the first vein of precious metal near the small farming village. Obregon’s find, which commenced operation in 1566, proved to be one of the greatest ever, with a precious metal content of 65% silver and 35% gold.

Following a custom of the time, each newly rich mine owner purchased a Spanish title, Raya becoming Conde de Regla, and Obregon the Conde de Valencia. Obregon named his mine La Valencia after the title he chose for himself. The wealth which flowed from this mine is possibly unparalleled anywhere in the world. During much of the 1600’s, 25% of all silver shipped from the New World to Spain came from the La Valencia mine.

Today, the mine, controlled by a miners federation, continues to produce. Working at the 525 meter (1722 feet) level, a ton of ore bearing rock rises to the surface every six minutes. Visitors are welcomed at the mine head, but of course are not permitted underground. Here one can watch two great reels, each holding more than half a kilometer of wire, as one lowers a platform with an empty ore car and the other raises a loaded car. On reaching the surface the car rolls down a spring loaded track, tips the rock into a hopper, rolls back to the platform and descends for another load. This process continues hour after hour six days a week. The rock is trucked to the mill where the precious metals are extracted. Today’s miners, with hard hats, steel toed boots, and lowered to their work site in enclosed cages, are a far cry from the originals.

Not far from the present shaft is the Bocamina (mine entrance). The Miner’s Federation has converted this abandoned shaft, which they claim is the original entrance to the mine, to a guided tour. At 527 meters this shaft was even deeper than the present one.
Tour guides, most are ex-miners disabled by accidents, take us fifty meters underground to show what horrendous conditions the early miners worked under. On entering the shaft we descend steps, cut into the rock, at a 70 degree angle for about 20 meters, then continue down a sloping tunnel. At the 50 meter level, a grotto, cut into the rock, contains a shrine to Saint Coyejano, Patron Saint of Miners. Constructed in 1760, with permission of the then Count Valencia, miners still come here to pray, asking that they be spared an accident while working.

When the mines were first opened, native indians were recruited as labourers. Conditions in the mines were so horrendous that workers refused to go underground. Natives were rounded up and forced to work under threat of punishment or death.

An example is a shaft near the shrine. Less than a meter (3 ft.) high and not quite that wide, the tunnel extends 125 meters down at an angle of 25 degrees. Workers on their hands and knees had to work in that space swinging a heavy hammer to drive a bit into the rock face. Then the rock had to be dragged out. Placed in sacks to a total of 70 kilos (154 lbs.) the sacks were carried to the surface on the backs of Indians. Remember those steps at a 70 degree slope as we entered the mine? Try to visualize carrying a load that heavy up those steps. Our guide demonstrated that it was done climbing in a zig-zag fashion. Stand sideways, one foot up, bring the other foot up beside it, repeat two or three steps, turn 180 degrees and repeat the process, to the surface with the load.

At another point in the tour, life-sized paper mache figures depict miners drilling, one holding the drill while the other swings the hammer. Alongside is a modern pneumatic drill with water hose attached. The guide explains that using the old hand drill a miner’s life expectancy was eight years before the black lung disease killed him. Using the modern drill a miner can work up to 40 years without contracting black lung. Back on the surface there is the inevitable souvenir store. Along with the usual line of souvenirs, amethyst and white quartz crystals are sold. Found underground these beautiful crystals are sold with the profits going to a miner’s benevolent fund.

Sometime around 1700, descendants of Count Valencia decided to fulfill the pledge made by Antonio Obregon. Construction started in 1700, date of completion is uncertain, one source puts it at 1740, while another has it as late as 1788. Built on native stone in five colours, pink, green, rose, white, and brown, the church is a magnificent structure. The interior is stunning! Obregon’s promise was fulfilled. Gold dominates the interior, three alters, one nine meters wide (29 ft.) and the other two slightly narrower. The furnishings and walls behind are all sheathed in 22 karat gold. The organ was imported from Germany in 1760. Carved and cast statues and plaques, as well as religious paintings adorn the walls. With the wealth endowed in the church, restoring decay and damage has been possible. The first was replaced during the 1870s, the pews during the 1890s.

All construction costs were borne by Count Valencia, including a private chapel for the family’s exclusive use. Seating more than 50 people the chapel is larger than many churches.

 

Now to visit the most bizarre museum in Mexico, and possibly all of the world. The Museo de las Momias (Mummy Museum) has only one type of artifact on display, human mummies. Not mummies prepared and wrapped as Egyptian mummies, but human corpses, mummified in the condition and position they were buried.

To understand how this could be we have to look at the topography, and atmospheric conditions of the area. Because Guanajuato is situated in a river gulch, and the mines are in the hills at one end of the town, the cemetery is located between the mines and the town and of necessity is very small. Walled, with crypts just the size of a coffin built at right angles to the inner wall providing hundreds of spaces for burial. The very dry air of the Mexican highlands will dry and mummify corpses buried above ground.

Now comes an unusual law. To purchase a plot costs 395 pesos. When this price was set it constituted a large sum of money. Although it has not been increased during two centuries, that amount is still considerable for many working people.

An option to a plot in perpetuity is a 5 year rental at 125 pesos. However, if at the end of the five year term the lease is not renewed, the corpse is disinterred and becomes the property of the state. What to do with all these mummies? I’m told there is a warehouse containing hundreds which have not been claimed by family. So, a museum to exhibit some was established. For a small admission fee one can view the 119 mummies displayed in glass cases. No plaques identifying the bodies or dates of death on the cases so I hired a guide to get a better understanding of what I saw. So, what is said about the displays is what the guide told me.

Abdominal cavities of all mummies were empty, whether this was done before interment or is natural decomposing I was not able to ascertain. Mummies were of both sexes, and all ages, from babies to elderly persons, even a fetus of a woman who died before her pregnancy came to term. Many have a black stain where the lungs would be - - the guide said this was caused by the miners black lung disease.

Cause of death was from all the natural diseases, plus gunshot wounds and hangings. On one woman who was hanged, the mark of the rope was still visible on her neck. Several are from wealthy families who would not pay for perpetual care. One in particular is a French engineer who came to Mexico on assignment. Following his death the family paid for a five year lease then returned to France. Today he stands in a grotesque position in a glass case. The oldest is a Chinese woman who died some 240 years ago. Her mummy has been on display for 133 years. The most recent died during 1989 and has been on exhibit since 1995.

As could be expected, few Mexicans visit the museum. Even the guides, who are paid to explain the exhibits, are reluctant to linger and try to hurry you through.
The mine, the church, and the museum are all close to the city and are accessible by city bus.