SANTA ROSALíA, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR

'Santa Rosalía' is a city located on the Baja California peninsula, in the northern part of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It was named after Saint Rosalia, although the reason for the name is not quite clear since the Misión de Santa Rosalía is not located by the town, but rather in Mulegé, about 100 km (60 miles) south, and the local parish is devoted to Santa Bárbara. (See: Spanish missions in California.)
Santa Rosalía is a port city, and a regular ferry connects with Guaymas, Sonora, on the other side of the Gulf of California. At the Palo Verde Airport daily flights are available from Guaymas and twice a week from Hermosillo, Sonora.
This town boasts French influence, particularly in its architecture. A French company called ''El Boleo'' founded the town in 1884 and exploited copper mines in this town until 1954 when they shut down. They built houses and installed a metallic church building (The Santa Barbara parish) which is argued to have been designed by Gustave Eiffel.
A state owned company (CMSRSA) reopened the works using basically the same (rather archaic) process until the 1980s, when it was definitively closed given the low ore grade regarding to the thechnology used.
Unlike many other mining sites, the industrial facilities which are located in the very middle of the town, were never dismantled. Of particular interest are the reverberatory furnace and the metallurgical converter, although they are currently not accessible by the public due to safety concerns. Old locomotives, mining equipment and machinery are visible everywhere, witnesses to an active past. The main mining company offices (La dirección) have been turned into an industrial museum.
The 2005 census showed a population of 9,768 persons. The city is the seat of the municipality of Mulegé.

Contents

Facts and Controversy on the metal church

References

External link

Facts and Controversy on the metal church

One of the main attractions at the town is undoubtedly the metal church. Originally built entirely of stamped steel sheet squares, it is supported by a formidable steel structure in a sober and austere style. Despite this, it has been brutally modified in favor of functionallity (its former lateral corridors were turned into habitable space using crude masonry), and stripped from several of its original stained glasses, it still preserves some of the original 1800's spirit. Traditionally its design is credited to the renowned Architect Gustave Eiffel.
Legend states that it was shown in the 1889 Universal Exposition of Paris, France, along with the tower, and it was awarded with a prize. Originally destined to Africa (Termites will not eat up metal) the french company Director Charles La Forgue found it dissasembled at Belgium and bought it in 1894, probably to alleviate the nostalgia of the French community who missed the lifestyle and glamour of the European architecture. In the early 1990s Angela Gardner, an American architecture student who visited the town and examined the church, came to a hypothesis that the church design was from a different architect, belonging to the Duclo's House rather than Eiffel's Firm, to the dismay of the locals, who believe this could demerit the appreciation of such building. As no historical record or blueprint has appeared, neither version could be granted and still remains as one of the many coloured tales surrounding the town. Some hoped that clues could emerge with the recent disclosure of the historical archives to the public by the INAH (Mexico's National Institute of Antropology and History), but it has not happened.

References

★ Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005 INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografia e Informática

★ Link to comments on the metal church by Francoise Dasques

External link

★ Santa Rosalia City Guide