Layout of Matamoros
Matamoros lies at about 10 m above sea level on the last stretch of the Río Bravo, roughly 40 km from the point where the river reaches the Gulf and marks the eastern end of the US–Mexico border. The settlement was established in 1774 as the Congregación de Nuestra Señora del Refugio de los Esteros, on ranch land granted in the Escandón colonisation of the 1740s, and took its present name in 1826 in honour of the insurgent priest Mariano Matamoros. The 2020 census recorded 541,979 people in the municipality, the second-largest in Tamaulipas after Reynosa.
The centre is a flat grid immediately south of the river. Plaza Hidalgo, with the cathedral of Nuestra Señora del Refugio on one side, is the anchor; Calle Álvaro Obregón runs north from it to the Gateway bridge and carries the shops used by visitors from Brownsville, while Calle Sexta and the Mercado Juárez form the local commercial streets a few blocks west. The Teatro de la Reforma dates from 1861, and the Casamata — a brick fort begun in 1845, before the Mexican–American War — stands on the western side of the old town and now holds the city museum. Industrial parks occupy the southern and eastern outskirts; General Servando Canales International (MAM) is about 12 km south-east on the Ciudad Victoria road, with domestic flights only.
Distances from Matamoros
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brownsville, Texas (Gateway bridge) | 3 | 15 min | On foot or by car, plus queue |
| Matamoros airport (MAM) | 12 | 20 min | Taxi |
| Los Indios bridge | 30 | 35 min | MX-2 west |
| Playa Bagdad | 37 | 40 min | Beach road east across the delta |
| Reynosa | 100 | 1 h 15 | MX-2 border highway |
| San Fernando | 140 | 1 h 45 | MX-101 south |
| Ciudad Victoria | 310 | 3 h 30 | MX-101 via San Fernando |
| Monterrey | 320 | 3 h 30 | MX-2 and MX-40D via Reynosa |
| Tampico | 500 | 5 h 30 | MX-180 down the coast |
| Mexico City | 970 | 11 h | MX-101 and MX-85, overnight bus |
Bridges, the coast and the delta
Four crossings serve Matamoros and Brownsville. The Gateway International Bridge runs from the end of Calle Obregón into downtown Brownsville and is the pedestrian route; the Brownsville and Matamoros bridge alongside it is the oldest of the group and carries the rail line as well; the Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates, opened in 1999 east of the centre, takes the heavy commercial traffic; and the Free Trade Bridge at Los Indios, about 30 km upstream near Lucio Blanco, gives trucks a second route. Federal Highway 2 starts at Matamoros and follows the border west for the whole length of the frontier to Tijuana, while Highway 180 turns south along the Gulf towards Tampico and Veracruz.
The city has a longer commercial history than the other border towns. During the American Civil War the Union blockade closed the Confederate ports, and Confederate cotton was hauled overland to Matamoros and shipped out through Bagdad, a port at the river mouth that grew to several thousand people between 1861 and 1865 and was then destroyed by hurricanes and abandoned. Playa Bagdad, 37 km east on the same shore, keeps the name: a straight road runs out across salt flats and dunes to a wide beach with shallow, warm water. The mouth of the Río Bravo lies a few kilometres north of it, and the lagoons and marshes of the delta between the two are wintering ground for waterfowl and shorebirds on the central flyway.
Inland the land is farm country — sorghum, maize and cotton on irrigated fields — and the road south crosses the Laguna Madre littoral, a long hypersaline lagoon behind a barrier island that runs most of the way to La Pesca. Matamoros itself is an assembly town, with maquiladora parks employing tens of thousands in electronics, car parts and appliances, and it is the eastern end of the Gulf coast and of northern Mexico alike. The beaches map shows how Playa Bagdad compares with the rest of the Mexican shoreline.
Questions about Matamoros
Where is Matamoros on the map of Mexico?
At the eastern end of the border, on the south bank of the Río Bravo about 40 km from its mouth, in Tamaulipas at 25.87° N, 97.50° W. Federal Highway 2 begins here and runs west along the border to Tijuana.
Which US city is across the border from Matamoros?
Brownsville, Texas, immediately opposite. The Gateway International Bridge and the older Brownsville and Matamoros bridge cross into downtown Brownsville, the Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates takes most traffic east of the centre, and the Free Trade Bridge at Los Indios is about 30 km upstream.
Is there a beach at Matamoros?
Playa Bagdad, 37 km east on the Gulf, at the end of a straight road across the delta flats. It is a wide sand beach with shallow water, palapas and weekend crowds from the city, and is the closest sea to both Matamoros and Brownsville.
Is Matamoros safe to visit?
Tamaulipas has carried the US State Department's highest travel advisory level for several years, and US government employees are subject to movement restrictions in the state. Check the current advisory before travelling.