Mexican Unesco cards

I've recentely arranged a trade with Irma from Mexico in order to get new Unesco sites from this country. She was offering Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila and Hospicio Cabañas.

 Photo by Albert Gomez Barbosa

The 34,658 ha site, between the foothills of the Tequila Volcano and the deep valley of the Rio Grande River, is part of an expansive landscape of blue agave, shaped by the culture of the plant used since the 16th century to produce tequila spirit and for at least 2,000 years to make fermented drinks and cloth. Within the landscape are working distilleries reflecting the growth in the international consumption of tequila in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, the agave culture is seen as part of national identity. The area encloses a living, working landscape of blue agave fields and the urban settlements of Tequila, Arenal, and Amatitan with large distilleries where the agave ‘pineapple' is fermented and distilled. The property is also a testimony to the Teuchitlan cultures which shaped the Tequila area from AD 200-900, notably through the creation of terraces for agriculture, housing, temples, ceremonial mounds and ball courts. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1209

 Photo by Erik Schnabel

The Hospicio Cabañas in Guadalajara, Jalisco, a World Heritage Site since 1997, is one of the oldest and largest hospital complexes in Spanish America.

Photo by Alberto Gomez Barbosa

The Hospicio Cabañas was built at the beginning of the 19th century to provide care and shelter for the disadvantaged – orphans, old people, the handicapped and chronic invalids. This remarkable complex, which incorporates several unusual features designed specifically to meet the needs of its occupants, was unique for its time. It is also notable for the harmonious relationship between the open and built spaces, the simplicity of its design, and its size. In the early 20th century, the chapel was decorated with a superb series of murals, now considered some of the masterpieces of Mexican art. They are the work of José Clemente Orozco, one of the greatest Mexican muralists of the period. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/815