Fresnillo

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Fresnillo [frAsnE´yO] (2000 pop. 183,296) is the second largest and most populated city in Zacatecas state, north central Mexico. Fresnillo was founded in 1554 by Francisco de Ibarra. The city, a rail and highway junction, is the center of a rich mining area known especially for silver. Fresnillo is the location of one of the world´s richest silver mines, the Mina Proaño or Fresnillo Mine, which belongs to the Peñoles mining company. It has a mining school, and agriculture (cereals, beans) and cattle raising are other important economic activities.

It is the location of religious pilgrimages to see the famous Santo Niño de Atocha ("Holy Child of Atocha"), a Roman Catholic devotional statue brought to Mexico from Spain.

History

Diego Fernandez de Proaño was searching for a legendary hill in the Zacatecas region, which supposedly contained great mineral wealth, when he encountered a hill they named "Cerro de Proaño" ("Proaño's Hill"). Though it did not match the description of the legendary hill, he discovered evidence of rich mineral deposits. He returned to Zacatecas to report to the Virrey (governor) his findings, but apparently there was not much interest in his discovery and Proaño's Hill was forgotten over the years.

A second expedition, headed by 15-year-old Francisco de Ibarra, arrived on September 2, 1554 at a place where there was a freshwater spring, in whose border was a "Pequeño Fresno" (small ash). They decided to spend the night, and Francisco de Ibarra wrote his name for the place in his daily journal: "Ojo de Agua del Fresnillo (water eye of the small ash)".

The Coat of Arms of Fresnillo

In the high part of the trimming it says in Latin: "Orat Atque Ab Condita Large city", That translated in English means: "a Town that Works and Pray from its Foundation", in the low part say, "Real de Minas del Fresnillo(Royal Mine of Fresnillo)", and to the center, In one bar says: "2nd September 1554".

The coat of arms is divided in three boxes: first in the left superior part, appears the virgin of the Candlemas, Pattern of Fresnillo, that is identified to have a candle in the right hand. In the other box, in the right superior part, rodela or shield is one, and the arms used by the natives and the Spaniards during the Conquista. In the inferior part, in the third box, it appears a spring, in whose margin there is an Ash, having like bottom the Hill of Proaño and some clouds, symbolizing the rainy month of September. "2 of September of 1554".

Sources

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 2003
INEGI Census Data, Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

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