Querétaro is one of Mexico's colonial jewels. This picturesque town is studded with charming and amazingly well-preserved baroque churches, temples and mansions boasting graceful balconies and ornate facades.

The name "Querétaro" is believed to be Purepecha for "site of the ballgame" or "place where there are rocks." If the second translation is true, perhaps the rocks the Indians were referring to were the opals, amethysts and other semiprecious stones found in rich supply throughout the mountainous region.

In 1531, the city was overtaken by the Spanish. It became a point of transit for anyone traveling between the nation's capital and the interior provinces, and its prominence was acknowledged with the designation "Third City of New Spain." It later played a leading role in both the struggle for independence and the revolution. It was here that Mexico's Constitution was written and signed.

The city's most prominent landmark is an 8-kilometer long 74-arch aqueduct built in the early 1700s to supply the city with water. The ancient structure runs through the center of one of the city's main thoroughfares, with intersections laced through its high arches. Appropriately, a fountain built in the city's main square pays tribute to the man who financed the 12-year project (1726-38), Don Juan Antonio Urrutia, the Marquis de la Villa del Villar del Aguila.