Querétaro (officially Santiago de Querétaro) is the capital of the small central Mexican state of the same name — a prosperous, increasingly cosmopolitan city of about 900,000 people, roughly 200 km north-west of Mexico City in the Bajío highlands. Founded by the Spanish in 1531 on the site of an Otomí village, it has a compact and extraordinarily well-preserved colonial old town that was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 — a grid of pedestrianised streets, baroque churches, and tiled plazas that is arguably the most atmospheric colonial city centre in central Mexico outside of San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. In recent years Querétaro has also become one of the most important economic centres in the country, with a big expat community and a rapidly developing restaurant and wine scene.
Querétaro's role in Mexican history is unusually central. In 1810, Doña Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez — La Corregidora, wife of the city's Spanish magistrate — discovered that the plans for the independence uprising had been leaked and sent a horseman on the night of 15 September to warn Miguel Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende in San Miguel de Allende. Hidalgo responded the next morning by issuing the famous Grito de Dolores, the cry that launched the Mexican War of Independence. Querétaro was also where the 1917 Mexican Constitution was drafted and signed, and where Emperor Maximilian was tried and executed by firing squad in 1867 on the Cerro de las Campanas, ending the brief French-imposed monarchy.
The city's defining landmark is the 74-arched Aqueduct — one of the longest Spanish colonial aqueducts in the Americas, completed in 1738 and stretching for 1.3 km into the city. At its base, the charming Mirador de los Arcos gives the best view. In the centre, the Plaza de Armas is one of the prettiest small plazas in Mexico, with the Casa de la Corregidora (now the state government building) on one side and outdoor cafés lining the others. The Convento de la Santa Cruz, perched on a hill east of the centre, was the base from which the Franciscans carried out their missionary work throughout northern Mexico and has a famous miraculous "tree of the cross" in its cloister. The Museo de Arte de Querétaro, in a former Augustinian convent, has an excellent collection of colonial-era Mexican painting.
The Cerro de las Campanas — Hill of the Bells — is where Emperor Maximilian was executed in 1867, ending Mexico's brief French-imposed monarchy. The Teatro de la República is where Mexico's revolutionary 1917 Constitution was drafted and signed.
Querétaro is increasingly known for its wine and cheese: the surrounding state has become Mexico's second most important wine-producing region after Baja California, and a series of bodegas around the village of Tequisquiapan offer tastings and tours. The pretty colonial mining town of San Miguel de Allende is an hour away, and makes a natural combination for a long weekend.