Santiago
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◈ The town is an amazing gateway into the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range, letting you enjoy its multicolored landscapes of rock and water. You will find yourself in a mountain town like no other.
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◆ Bungee jump in Cola de Caballo.
◆ Enjoy adventure tourism in the mountains.
◆ Go out in a kayak on Presa de la Boca.
Day of the Dead in Villa de Santiago and Its Graveyard Rituals
❖ Enamórate de la naturaleza
en la Cascada Cola de Caballo
Take in this 82-foot waterfall where crystal-clear water rushes down from the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains.
Marvel at this 82-foot high waterfall, where its crystalline waters descend from the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains. Make the most of your outing and enjoy one of the many activities offered here: walking, mountain biking, and observing plants and wildlife. Next to the waterfalls is Mexico’s most famous bungee jump–it’s a 229.6-foot free fall!
❖ Haz una parada cultural
en los museos
This history museum is housed in the former Palacio Municipal, or Town Hall. It is just the place to get the scoop on fascinating stories and legends. A few steps farther and you’ll be in the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo. This contemporary art museum exhibits innovative art and preserves the visual arts. Plus, there is the recently created Museo de Arte Popular that displays an extensive collection of folk art from around Mexico.
❖ Conoce la Parroquia
de Santiago Apóstol
The church’s mismatched towers lend this Magical Town a unique charm.
Ground was broken for this baroque-style church in 1745. Its dissimilar towers give it a lopsided charm. As long as you’re here, head to Plaza Hidalgo, a square where you can take in the town’s appearance.
❖ Try Canyoneering
Santiago is shaped by long canyons covered in thick forests, stony bottoms, and water almost all year.
Santiago is characterized by long canyons cloaked in thick forests, rocky bottoms, and water most of the year. It has the perfect slope for canyoneering–it is challenging, but still within the realm of mere mortals. Fans of canyoneering come to try it out from all over the globe.
The canyons most visited by canyoneering buffs are the Cañones de San Cristóbal, del Chipitín, de Matacanes, and Hidrofobia. This activity makes Santiago one of the country’s best spots to enjoy adventure tourism. Its landscape is filled with subterranean rivers, caves, naturally-occurring water slides, pools, waterfalls, and zip lines. They are set inside Parque Nacional Cumbres de Monterrey, which covers a little more than 177,000 hectares–making it one of the nation’s largest nature reserves. The area provides around 70% of the water for the city of Monterrey.
❖ Take an Outing to Presa de la Boca
Practice your kayaking or rafting on a bamboo raft. Have a good time with your family.
This is a good spot to try kayaking, float on a bamboo raft, take a ride on a catamaran or motorboat, or simply chill on the shore.
❖ Enjoy the View of Santiago from the Lookout
From here you have a stunning view of Presa de la Boca dam.
This lookout is located behind the Museo de Historia. When you get there, you will be at the Magical Town’s highest point, giving you a sweeping view of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains, Presa de la Boca reservoir, and Parroquia de Santiago Apóstol church.
❖ Day of the Dead in Villa de Santiago and Its Graveyard Rituals
Santiago’s cemetery, Panteón Municipal de Santo Domingo, is where the elderly, the young, and children come to bring back the memories of their dead.
On November 2nd, the people of Santiago wistfully decorate their loved ones’ last resting places year after year. They make archways with hundreds of marigold flowers whose orange and yellow tones symbolize the earth. White flowers signify purity and the heavens, and purple ones convey mourning.
Next, they lovingly arrange bananas, sugar cane, mandarin oranges, Mexican hawthorn fruit, and in the place of honor, a basket full of bread. A photograph of the deceased person is placed at the top, then candles are lit, forming a ray of light to illuminate the path for the spirits. Finally, fragrant copal incense is scattered around to remove the bad energy and open the passageways. Then, well into the night, the world of the living and the world of the dead can intermingle.
From October 31st to November 2nd, the dead are remembered in this Magical Town’s downtown with an enormous offering on the stairs of Parroquia de Santiago Apóstol. Called the Altar de los Nuestros (the Altar of Our Loved Ones), it is decked out with strings of colorful papel picado (paper with elaborately cut designs) crisscrossing the Plaza Central. Each step has elegant paper-mache catrina skeleton figures, flowers, candles, and monumental multi-colored skulls that crown the offering.
Meanwhile, there are dances and pre-Hispanic and colonial theater groups perform. Several altars dedicated to famous Mexican cultural figures are displayed in Plaza Ocampo.
The celebration concludes with a traditional callejoneada in which La Llorona (weeping woman), the catrina (an elegant skeletal lady), a devil, and doleful nun process through downtown’s cobblestone streets to the rhythm of folk music.
Magical Towns in
Nuevo León
