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Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila
Site number:
1209
Type of site: Cultural
Date: 16th century
Date of Inscription: 2006
Location: North America, Mexico, Valles Region, Jalisco State
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Description: Set in-between the foothills of the Tequila Volcano and the cavernous valley of the Rio Grande River, the 34,658 ha site is a branch of a sweeping landscape of blue agave. The locale has been fashioned by culturing the plant which has been used to produce tequila spirit since the 16th century and has served in the making of fermented drinks and cloth for over at least 2,000 years. The landscape exposed functioning distilleries that reveal the escalation of international tequila consumption in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the present day, the agave culture constitutes a part of national identity. The area hems in a breathing, functioning landscape of blue agave fields as well as the urban communes of Tequila, Arenal, and Amatitan with their great distilleries that ferment and distill the agave ‘pineapple'. The major elements of the listed site are the area’s fields, distilleries and factories (both active and not), tabernas (distilleries that the Spanish rule made illegal), some towns as well as Teuchitlan archaeological sites. The property holds a collection of haciendas, or estates, some dating back to the 18th century. The factory and hacienda architecture is distinguished by brick and adobe construction, ochre lime-washed plastered walls, stone arches, quoins and window dressings, as well as formal, neo-classical or baroque embellishment. It reveals the blending of mescal juice fermenting traditions from the pre-Hispanic days with the distillation processes of Europe as well as the fusion of local technologies with those introduced from Europe and the U.S.A. The property also envelops archaeological sites that testify to the Teuchitlan culture which actually formed the Tequila area from 200 to 900 A.D., markedly through the developing terraces for agriculture, housing, temples, ceremonial mounds and ball courts. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available.
  Tequila is a municipality in the central part of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The municipal seat is the city of Santiago de Tequila, generally called Tequila without further qualification. The city of Santiago de Tequila is located 50 km away from Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city. A famous version of mezcal made from agave bears this city's name, and a National Tequila Fair is organised locally from 29 November to 13 December each year. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1209
Reference: 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page.
 
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