Santa Rosalia II

Tags: Mexico, Santa Rosalia, sailing

Date: May 2, 2025

There are many signs of the mining history in Santa Rosila. Here is a locomotive on display in the central plaza:

There is a nice mining museum in town. It is housed in the old administrative building of the mining company:

Here is a copper bar:

Old batteries:

A phone:

Outside the museum, there is a sculpture illustrating some aspects of mining:

The museum is located on Jean Michel Cousteau street:

It looks like the street sign has a spelling error. Jean Michel is son of Jacques Cousteau, the great ocean explorer who called the Sea of Cortez "The World's Aquarium". Line his father, Jean Michel has been a great voice for protecting the oceans.

The museum is up a hill with a view over the port. The harbor was apparently built from leftover slag from the smelting:

More machinery on display in the streets:

Looking up the valley where the town is located:

The story goes that people in the newly formed town of Santa Rosalia soon demanded to have a church. In 1897 this church was put up:

The interesting thing about the church is that it allegedly was designed by Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame. It was designed in 1884, built in 1887 and displayed in the World Fair in Paris in 1889. The idea was that the church was easy to assemble and disassemble and could be shipped anywhere. This would allow churches to easily be put up in the many French colonies. Only this one was ever built. After the world fair, the church was put in storage in Brussels and then bought by the Compagnie du Boleo to be put up in Santa Rosalia as the church of Santa Barbara.

More pictures of the church:

Looking back as we are leaving Santa Rosalia: