Colima City - Colonial & Pre-Hispanic Sites

Journey into the heart of Mexico. Villages surrounded by volcanos and frozen in time. Generations of craftsmen working their trade in utter silence. The gentle colonial air wafting through Colima’s towering palm trees.

Colonial architecture blends with quaint time-honored traditions in the state capital of Colima. Known for its tall palm trees which stretch their leafy arms towards the sky, Colima is a picturesque town which introduces visitors to flavors of Mexico’s Pacific coast in music, regional dishes and neoclassical buildings.

Giant statues of traditional Colimense dancing dogs — modeled after ancient clay pottery Xoloescuintle dogs that were placed in tombs to lead the dead in the afterlife — appear along the highway to Comala.

Several pre-Hispanic archeological zones including La Campana, with sunken tombs, stone-paved canal drainage systems and a religious center, and El Chanal are open for discovery. Well-restored architectural sites such as Minor Basilica Cathedral, San Felipe de Jesús Temple, municipal government buildings and Park of the Smooth Rock offer guests a glimpse into Colima’s cultural heritage.

Villa de Alvarez is a tiny town located 10 minutes from Colima. Renowned for its local cuisine and lively bullfight festival, which is considered the oldest in southwestern Mexico, the village was just named a city in 1991. Visitors can feast on such delicasies as the sopitos, enchiladas, pozole, and tamales, which are all homemade in the traditional style and flavor of “La Villa.”

Twin peaks: reaching the sky of Colima

The majestic twin peaks of the Colima volcanoes stretch into the blue skyline on clear days and are a familiar sight cloaked in age-old folk tales and modern day mystery. Legend tells of how the ancient Aztec spirit who inhabited the Nevado de Colima protected the surrounding villages and pueblos from the explosive and destructive temper of his younger brother, who lived in the Volcan de Fuego.

The Volcan de Fuego formed roughly 2,500 years ago at a height of 5,000 meters (16,600 feet) above sea level, making it a menacing landmark probably seen from Manzanillo. Sometime later a piece broke off the side, bringing it down to 3,000 meters (10,000 feet). Over time as the earth´s plates push the volcanic cone up through the existing core, the volcano has built back nearly 2,000 meters (6,700 feet). Visitors can see a ring around the volcano as the new cone thrusts upwards through the old cone.

Comala: Stay a little longer

The prototypical tourist visit to Comala, involves arrival at noon, lunch at a Portales restaurant (an array of Mexican delicacies supplied gratis with drink orders), a quick stroll around the plaza, then back onto the tourist bus for another destination.

But why not stay a night, or several, and discover for yourself the reasons this town 15 minutes north of Colima has been designated one of a dozen Pueblos Mágicos de México? The coveted moniker is a way to encourage visitors to look beyond the beach, and to stay in these selected “magical” towns that have been specially recognized for their history, art, architecture and cuisine.

Comala more than measures up, according to local historian Jaime Valdez Galván. “Comala is among the oldest towns in Western Mexico, with considerable historic significance,” Valdez Galvan notes. “And it is the only in the state which retains its architectural identity in spite of earthquakes.”

Indeed, exploring the town on foot is a wonderful way of getting acquainted with the traditional white-washed brick adobe structures that have defined the colonial town for centuries.

Cuyutlan’s White Gold

What is now considered a common table element was once a strategic resource of great value for Mesoamerica during pre-Hispanic and colonial times when it was a scarce commodity.

Sea salt from Cuyutlán and its surrounding estuary located 62 kilometers south of Manzanillo was even referred to as “white gold” in the 16th century. It played an important role during the Spanish colonization of Mexico as a major supplier for the silver mines of Guanajuato, as salt was used then in the production of silver.

From pre-Hispanic times to just 50 years ago, the area became a veritable salt emporium with countless sites large and small where salt was produced. Today, sea salt mining is still considered a major industry in Cuyutlán, along with fishing.

Salt making involves leaching soils from the beach around the estuary, which shrinks during dry season to leave crusty patch called salitre. This salty crust is mixed with salt water from the estuary, producing brine that is evaporated in the sun to get crystallized salt.

In the early days the entire process was all-natural. Filtering was done with several layers of grass, small stones and sand. Brine was poured into evaporation pans called “eras” made of beach sand and lime (also plentiful in area). And crystallized salt was scraped with “cayuco”, a palm tree pod or husk that is firm but flexible.