Santa Rosalia

Santa Rosalía is a city of about 14,000 people (2015) on the Gulf of California coast of the Baja California Peninsula. It's not much of a tourist town though it has old school charm and is known for its French influenced architecture. It sees few snowbirds. The town is one of Mexico's designated Pueblos Mágicos.

Understand
Santa Rosalía has French influence, particularly in its architecture. The French company El Boleo founded the town in 1884 and exploited copper mines there until they closed in 1954. They built houses and installed the metallic Iglesia de Santa Bárbara, which was designed by Gustave Eiffel.

Climate
The town is the northernmost (and thus closest to the US border) year-round warm locale on the main peninsular highway.

By boat

 * By ferry from Guaymas, Sonora, on the other side of the Gulf of California.

By car
Santa Rosalía is on the Mexican Federal Highway 1:
 * 920 km south of Tijuana
 * 200 km north of Loreto
 * 550 km north of La Paz.

Get around
The historic centro is compact and easily walkable but the town stretches along the shores of the Sea of Cortez and some local sites are a long distance north of centro. You'll want to use a taxi to reach those places. Santa Rosalia borders the massive El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve and the best way to explore points of interest within the protected natural areas is by using a local tour service (particularly to reach the archaelogical sites of Sierra San Francisco), or take a bus to Guerrero Negro to visit the whale sanctuaries.

See

 * Unlike many other mining sites, the industrial facilities which are in the middle of the town, were never dismantled. Old locomotives, mining equipment and machinery are visible everywhere. The main mining company offices (La dirección) have been converted into an industrial museum.
 * Mesa France is a neighbourhood where you can appreciate the French colonial architectural style. The French mining technicians and officials of the company lived here.
 * Mesa France is a neighbourhood where you can appreciate the French colonial architectural style. The French mining technicians and officials of the company lived here.

Eat
Santa Rosalía is famous in the state of Baja California Sur for making bread. The bakeries of yesteryear are: "El Bachicha" and "Boleo"; these bakeries receive this fame for the implementation of stone ovens in the production of bread.

Go next

 * Guerrero Negro
 * El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve
 * Loreto