Calvillo awaits you with its architectural attractions, its culinary and textile traditions and its beautiful natural landscapes. With this complete guide you will know what is necessary to make an unforgettable visit to the Magic Town warm up.
If you want to read the guide to visit the 12 best tourist places in Aguascalientes click here.
1. Where is Calvillo?
The hydro-warm municipality of Calvillo is located west of the state of Aguascalientes. It was incorporated into the Magical Towns system in 2012 in order to enhance the use of its various resources for tourism. Calvillo is the national capital of guava, it has an attractive historic center, with interesting tourist routes in the town and its surroundings and with beautiful material and intangible traditions that make it more and more visited.
2. What is the best way to get there?
Calvillo is located 53 km from the city of Aguascalientes and to go to the Magic Town from the state capital you travel along Highway 70 heading west, in a time of about 50 minutes. From Mexico City the route by land is 550 km north-west towards Santiago de Querétaro, León and Aguascalientes.
3. What is the history of the town?
The first human settlement in the current Calvillo territory was formed by Nahua Indians, who were driven out by the conquerors. In 1771, Don José Calvillo, owner of Hacienda San Nicolás, donated the lands where the town stands today, which took the name of the prosperous landowner in 1848.
4. What type of climate does Calvillo have?
The climate of Calvillo is semi warm, with an average annual temperature of 20 ° C, without extreme variations. The coldest months are December and January, with average temperatures of 10 ° C, while the hottest period is the one that goes from June to September, when the thermometers rise to the range of 22 to 25 ° C. Calvillo is at 1,630 meters above sea level and it rains little, just over 600 mm a year, with August and September being the rainiest months.
5. What are the main attractions of Calvillo?
In the architectural landscape of Calvillo the famous temple of Señor del Salitre, patron of the town, the Church of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Municipal Palace and large houses stand out. The fertile lands of Calvillo are home to beautiful estates in which the traditional style of doing things is preserved. Nearby there are several dams where you can practice sport fishing and camp. Among its artisan traditions are distinguished the making of frayed yarns and the elaboration of tasty chamucos and snows.
6. What is the Iglesia del Señor del Salitre like?
This well-known temple was built slowly between the 18th and 19th centuries and was opened in 1870, still unfinished. It stands out for its dome, the second largest in Latin America. Its façade is neoclassical and it has a truncated tower that began to crack when it was being erected. Inside, the frescoes on the life of Señor San José stand out, painted in the segments of the huge octagonal dome and the altar covered in gold.
7. What is the most remarkable thing about the other buildings?
The Sanctuary of the Virgin of Guadalupe is a beautiful neo-Gothic building in pink quarry located on a high point from which there is a splendid view of Calvillo. Inside its stained glass windows and an altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin, decorated with gold leaves, stand out. At night its towers and arches are illuminated, highlighting the magnificence of the temple. The Municipal Palace is a colonial building with distinctive murals of the town and the House of Culture works in a beautiful house in pink tones that is also a public library.
8. How important is guava to Calvillo?
The cultivation and transformation of guava and tourism are the two most important economic activities in the life of Calvillo. The town is the most important in Mexico and one of the most relevant worldwide in the production of the nutritious fruit. Calvillo guavas stand out for their fragrance, color and flavor and the sweets and other preparations made with their pulp and with their shell are one of the great pride of the locals. One of the most pleasant walks in Calvillo is the Guayaba Route, in which the visitor has the opportunity to try an infinity of sweets made with the fruit.
9. Can I visit a candy factory?
It would be unthinkable that being in the town of guava you would not visit a factory in which the fruit is transformed into delicious sweets. At the Guayags Candy Factory, located at 456 Bulevar Landeros, they make a wide variety of guava and other fruit candies, mixing the traditional knowledge of Calvillo's sweet art with some more modern equipment to increase production. Visitors are delighted with the guava cajeta, the guava sweet with chili and many other presentations.
10. What are the snows and chamucos like?
Calvillo is famous for its snows prepared with the rich fruits that its fertile lands give. Some brands, like El Popo, have already become well known and almost all visitors delight in at least one daily. Another delicious culinary tradition of the Pueblo Mágico is its chamucos, cinnamon rolls with an incomparable aroma, texture and flavor. They are prepared with two types of dough, one made of sugar paste that goes in the central part and another made of wheat flour and vegetable shortening that makes a ring around the first.
11. What can you tell me about the tradition of the frayed?
Calvillo is recognized as the cradle of the frayed in Mexico, the beautiful embroideries inspired by those made by flamingos and Venetians, which have achieved national and international appreciation for their quality and beauty. The community of La Labor, close to the municipal seat of Calvillo, is the one most dedicated to making beautiful pieces, made with nature motifs, such as birds, flowers and fruits. A beautiful image of Calvillo is to see the women at the doors of their houses making their embroidery.
12. What can I see in the haciendas and dairy farms?
During the seventeenth century Calvillo achieved great prosperity thanks to its estates, including San Diego, Vaquerías, La Primavera, La Labor and La del Sauz. Some of these haciendas, such as La del Sauz and Vaquerías, have been preserved and can be visited on a tourist route to learn about how farm work was done 300 years ago. Other popular tourist routes in Calvillo are Cantinas and El Artista.
13. What are those routes like?
On the Cantina Route, people of legal age visit the traditional oldest Mexican bars in town, some with almost 100 years old, with a drink at each stop. As guava cannot be absent, in some canteens they offer an exotic drink inside a fruit shell. The Artist's Route is a tour, which can be guided, through the streets and alleys of the historic center of Calvillo, to admire more than 15 paintings referring to historical and anecdotal episodes in the life of the town.
14. Where are the dams?
Near Calvillo there are several dams made in the course of the Calvillo, La Labor and Santos rivers. In the cozy typical town of Malpaso, located 54 km from Calvillo, there is a beautiful dam equipped with cabins and with some gastronomic corners where they serve exquisite food. In the dam and its surroundings you can camp, practice sport fishing and go on excursions through the canyons and nearby places. Other dams in the vicinity with ecotourism possibilities are La Codorniz and Los Serna
15. Are there waterfalls near Calvillo?
In Cerro Blanco there are beautiful waterfalls and pools in which to take a refreshing bath and swim a bit. Other beautiful waterfalls located in the municipality are Los Alamitos, Los Huenchos and El Salto del Tigre, all with falls of 50 meters or more. Another water entertainment that Calvillo has are its water parks, such as La Cueva, surrounded by beautiful hills, at km 3 of the route to the Los Serna dam and the Oasis Park, located at km 43 of the Aguascalientes - Calvillo highway.
16. Is it true that there are excellent temazcales?
So is. Calvillo has some "houses of hot stones" where you can take the ancient steam bath with both physical and spiritual benefits according to Mexicans. One of the most renowned is Yolihuani Temazcales Spa, at Km. 14 of the La Panadera - Palo Alto highway, which combines indigenous tradition with the most recent spa services. They have temazcales, massages and whirlpools that leave you feeling like new, with a fit body, free of bad moods and with a rested and proactive mind.
17. What lodgings do you recommend?
Near Calvillo there are several hotels in which to settle comfortably to know the Magic Town. La Gloria de Calvillo Hotel is located very close to the municipal seat and customers praise its excellent service and its varied buffet breakfast. About 40 km from Calvillo are Posada La Fuente, Hotel La Mansión Suiza and Fiesta Americana Aguas Calientes, all with good attributes such as accommodation.
18. And on the subject of restaurants?
In the Rosa Mexicano restaurant, with attention to detail, the cochinita, the suckling pig and the xinipec carnitas stand out, and in the Pozoleria Cacahuazintle they offer the best traditional Mexican broth in Calvillo. El Faro, on the Malpaso dam, is a restaurant that stands out for the richness of its cuisine and the splendid views of the landscape. Other good options are Camino Viejo, also in Malpaso; Mariscos La Fragua on the La Panadera - Palo Alto highway, and La Parrilla de Lula on the Landeros boulevard.
Ready to get to know Calvillo, walk through its beautiful streets and taste its culinary specialties? We hope that this guide will be useful to you on your trip to the Magical Town of Aguascalientes.
