Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol and San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol

   Tancoyol is one of the last of the Sierra Gorda missions to be built, and it is perhaps the one that feels most remote. The church of Nuestra Señora de la Luz stands in a small village in the valley of the Santa María river, in the north of Querétaro, with a tall, intricate facade covered with plaster figures, flowers and symbols, a combination of European baroque and the imagination of the Pame people who helped to build it. UNESCO listed the five Sierra Gorda missions together in 2003, and Tancoyol is the quietest of them.

   Read the complete Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol is where the day begins. Next is Santa María del Agua de Landa.

2. 2. Santa María del Agua de Landa

   High in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro, Franciscan missionaries led by Junípero Serra in the mid eighteenth century built five mission churches, and their facades are an explosion of carved and painted plaster: angels, saints, flowers, fruit, mermaids and symbols that blend Catholic imagery with the local indigenous world. The mission of Santa María del Agua de Landa, in the village of Landa de Matamoros, has one of the most elaborate facades, glowing in pink and ochre. The five missions were listed together as a World Heritage Site in 2003. Serra went on to found the missions of California.

   Read the complete Santa María del Agua de Landa write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Santa María del Agua de Landa comes up about 36 km into the recorded legs. Next is San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco.

3. 3. San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco

   In the middle of the eighteenth century, a group of Franciscan friars led by Junipero Serra, later famous for his missions in California, set about building five churches in the Sierra Gorda of Queretaro, one of the roughest, most remote parts of central Mexico. The mission of San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco is one of the five, along with Jalpan, Landa, Concá and Tancoyol, and together they were inscribed as World Heritage in 2003 as the Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda. The church at Tilaco stands in a small village, and its facade is covered with stucco decoration in a style that mixes European baroque with local imagery, with saints, flowers, and symbols that might have been designed by the indigenous workers who built it.

   Read the complete San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 63 km into the recorded legs you reach San Francisco del Valle de Tilaco. Next is back through Santa María del Agua de Landa.

4. 4. back through Santa María del Agua de Landa

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Santa María del Agua de Landa write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Santa María del Agua de Landa, late in the day. Next is Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol.

5. 5. Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Nuestra Señora de la Luz de Tancoyol. That is the ride.