Layout of Pachuca
Pachuca de Soto stands at about 2,400 m where a canyon opens out of the Sierra de Pachuca onto the plain, which is why the wind that gave it the nickname La Bella Airosa blows down the main streets most afternoons. The old town fills the canyon floor and the newer districts climb the surrounding slopes in tight blocks of painted houses. Its centre is Plaza Independencia, dominated by the Reloj Monumental, a 40 m neoclassical clock tower of white marble inaugurated in 1910 for the centenary of independence and the fixed reference point for directions in the city. Plaza Juárez lies a short walk south, and between them are the state government offices and the pedestrianised commercial streets.
Two buildings account for most of the centre's visitors. The Ex-Convento de San Francisco, begun in 1596 on the southern edge of the old town, now houses the Fototeca Nacional, the national photographic archive, whose holdings include the Casasola collection of Revolution-era images. Uphill, the Cajas Reales, the colonial royal treasury where the crown's share of the silver was weighed, is one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city. On the western slope above the centre, the Palmitas district was painted in 2015 as a single continuous mural covering roughly 200 houses, visible in one piece from the far side of the valley.
The main road spine is Bulevar Felipe Ángeles, which carries Federal Highway 85 in from Mexico City and continues as Avenida Juárez through the built-up area; the Tuzobús bus rapid transit line, opened in 2015, runs along it. Pachuca has no scheduled airline service of its own: the Ingeniero Juan Guillermo Villasana airfield (PCA) north of the city handles general aviation and cargo, while passengers use Felipe Ángeles (NLU) 60 km away or Mexico City (MEX) at 85 km. The Central de Autobuses is south of the centre beside the Mexico City highway, with departures to the capital's Terminal Norte every few minutes through the day.
Distances from Pachuca
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real del Monte | 11 | 20 min | Hwy 105 north |
| Mineral del Chico | 25 | 40 min | State road into El Chico park |
| Huasca de Ocampo | 35 | 45 min | Hwy 105, then state road |
| Tulancingo | 45 | 45 min | Hwy 130D east |
| Felipe Ángeles airport (NLU) | 60 | 50 min | Hwy 85D south-west |
| Teotihuacán | 60 | 1 h | Hwy 132 south-west |
| Tula archaeological site | 75 | 1 h 15 | Hwy 88 west |
| Mexico City airport (MEX) | 85 | 1 h 15 | Hwy 85D |
| Mexico City centre | 95 | 1 h 30 | Hwy 85D, bus every few minutes |
| Puebla | 190 | 2 h 15 | Hwy 130D, Arco Norte |
The mining sierra above the city
Pachuca exists because of silver. Ore was worked here from 1552, and in 1555 Bartolomé de Medina demonstrated the patio process at Pachuca — refining silver by mixing crushed ore with salt and mercury in open yards — a method that spread across Spanish America and multiplied colonial silver output. The Real del Monte–Pachuca district went on producing for four centuries and is among the largest silver fields ever worked; the shaft heads and tailing heaps are still visible on the ridges north of the city.
In 1824 a British firm, the Company of Real del Monte, took over the flooded workings and hauled Cornish steam pumping engines up from Veracruz by ox cart. The Cornish miners who came with them left three things behind. One is the English cemetery at Real del Monte, where the graves are laid out facing north-east towards home. Another is the paste, the Cornish pasty adapted to Mexican fillings and now sold on every corner of both towns. The third is football: Pachuca Club de Fútbol, founded by the miners in 1901, is the oldest club in Mexico, and the national football hall of fame stands beside its stadium.
The sierra behind Pachuca rises past 3,000 m and holds the towns the mines paid for. Real del Monte, 11 km up at about 2,750 m, has steep red-roofed streets and its own working mine museum. Mineral del Chico sits inside El Chico, protected since 1898 and one of the oldest national parks in the country, among rock spires used for climbing. Huasca de Ocampo, 35 km out, was the first town named a Pueblo Mágico in 2001 and is the base for the Prismas Basálticos, a set of basalt columns in a ravine below a hacienda dam. West of the state, Tula was the Toltec capital, with its Atlantean warrior columns; the archaeological sites map, the state map, the Central Mexico map and the road map show how it all connects to the State of Mexico and Querétaro.
Questions about Pachuca
Where is Pachuca on the map of Mexico?
About 95 km north-east of Mexico City, at the southern edge of the Sierra de Pachuca at roughly 2,400 m. It is the capital of Hidalgo and the last large town before the highway climbs into the Sierra Madre Oriental.
Which airport do you use for Pachuca?
There is no scheduled passenger service at Pachuca's own airfield, Ingeniero Juan Guillermo Villasana (PCA), which handles general aviation and cargo. Felipe Ángeles (NLU), 60 km south-west, is the closest airport with airline flights; Mexico City Benito Juárez (MEX) is about 85 km away.
What is a paste?
A filled pastry turnover, descended directly from the Cornish pasty. Miners from Cornwall brought it when a British company took over the Real del Monte mines in 1824; the original filling is potato, beef and leek, and Real del Monte, 11 km above Pachuca, has a museum devoted to it.
Why is Pachuca called La Bella Airosa?
Because of the wind. The city sits at the mouth of a canyon that funnels air down from the sierra, and afternoon gusts are a daily feature; the nickname translates roughly as 'the windy beauty'.
Is Pachuca safe to visit?
Pachuca and the mountain towns above it are among the quieter parts of central Mexico, though the US State Department advisory for Hidalgo has flagged fuel-theft activity in the state's southern and western municipalities. Check the current advisory before travelling.