Pinal de Amoles

Pinal de Amoles is a municipality in the Mexican state of Querétaro. Pinal means "place of pine trees" in Spanish, and Amoles comes from the Nahuatl word amolli which is a sort of tuber used by the Aztecs as a detergent, and that can be found in this region. In 1559 mines were found in the area, and the town of Mineral de Escanelas (today called San Pedro Escanela) was founded. This brought Spanish attention to the region, and in 1606 the town of... more

Pinal de Amoles is a municipality in the Mexican state of Querétaro. Pinal means "place of pine trees" in Spanish, and Amoles comes from the Nahuatl word amolli which is a sort of tuber used by the Aztecs as a detergent, and that can be found in this region. In 1559 mines were found in the area, and the town of Mineral de Escanelas (today called San Pedro Escanela) was founded. This brought Spanish attention to the region, and in 1606 the town of Mineral y Minas de San José (today Pinal de Amoles, the municipality seat) was founded. The municipality used to be an Alcaldía mayor by the name Real y Minas de Escanela, but when the mines were not productive enough it was absorbed by neighbouring Cadereyta. The former convent of Bucareli was begun in 1896 by the Franciscan order. Its location amidst high canyons makes it an impressive monument. Maximilian of Habsburg's General Tomás Mejía is thought to have been born here. less