Ojocaliente (population ~44,144) is a medium-sized town in the southeastern part of the
Mexican state of
Zacatecas
, image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg
, map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico
, coordinates =
, coor_pinpoint =
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, subdivision_type ...
. It is considered the center of México. The town was founded in 1620; its first name was "Real Villa de Sacramento y Ojocaliente Mina de Bastidas." The name of Ojocaliente (literally "hot eye") derives from its
hot springs ("ojo" meaning pond or pool) and
mineral vein
In geology, a vein is a distinct sheetlike body of crystallized minerals within a rock. Veins form when mineral constituents carried by an aqueous solution within the rock mass are deposited through precipitation. The hydraulic flow involved ...
s that were exploited in the hills of Santiago.
The center of town is cut in half by the
Pan American Highway
The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...
# 45 Mexico -
Ciudad Juarez
Ciudad () is the Spanish word for City
Ciudad may also refer to:
* La Ciudad (archaeological site), Hohokam ruins in Phoenix, Arizona
*La Ciudad, district of Durango City, Mexico
*''La ciudad'', novel by Mario Levrero 1970
*La Ciudad ''The City ...
. It has an airport 55 km to the north.
Ojocaliente is a producer of
beans
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes thr ...
,
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
,
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...
, prickly pears, and potatoes; it also has
grape groves and
wine processing plants.
Ojocaliente is cradle of culture and art with artist, composers, chroniclers, mariachis, charros association and a school of arts.
Ojocaliente has six primary schools and a
high school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, which is affiliated with the
Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas.
The town has a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
, eight Catholic
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
s, and a
Mormon
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...
chapel.
Ojocaliente sits at 2040 m above sea level. It has a land area of 685.775 km².
{{Zacatecas
Populated places in Zacatecas
eo:Ojocaliente (komunumo)
pt:Ojocaliente