The Camino Real de Tierra Adentro includes five sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List and 55 other sites distributed along 1,400 of the 2,600 km of this long route that starts in northern Mexico and reaches Texas and New Mexico in the United States. Used between the 16th and 19th centuries, this road was used to transport silver extracted from the mines of Zacatecas, Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí, as well as mercury imported from Europe. Although its origin and use are linked to mining, the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro also fostered the establishment of social, cultural and religious links between Hispanic and Amerindian cultures.

Founded in 1546 after the discovery of a rich silver lode. Built on the steep slopes of a narrow valley, the town has breathtaking views and there are many old buildings. The cathedral, built between 1730 and 1760, dominates the centre of the town. It is notable for its harmonious design and the Baroque profusion of its façades, where European and indigenous decorative elements are found.

Archeologists discovered the first signs of settlement in the state of Zacatecas on the top of a hill. The site was occupied for more than 1,600 years without interruption. The techniques used in the buildings point to great expertise in hydraulic engineering and the skillful use of the natural shape of the land.

The majestic Cerro de las Ventanas rises close to the southern end of the Juchipila Canyon. It was named after the pre-Hispanic remains found in a rock shelter under the mountain’s highest crag. The shelter has a stone wall covered in clay with a few holes which look like windows from a distance.

One of the most outstanding colonial buildings in Zacatecas, it contains an excellent collection of the greatest painters of the period. Complemented by a fine collection of academic and popular sculptures of the religious art of New Spain.

The silver mines of San Demetrio were discovered in 1566, located 5 kilometers from the Real de Fresnillo. This discovery led to the surrounding area being populated with agricultural and livestock ranches, which later evolved into prosperous haciendas. By 1621, the site was officially named Real de San Demetrio de los Plateros.

After the initial explorations, the Spaniards found in the territory of present-day Zacatecas large expanses of open grasslands with high forage value, crucial for maintaining livestock herds.

Its location on the high part of the Sierra de Tlacotes, in the Cuisilique Valley, municipality of Ojocaliente, in the state of Zacatecas, makes Cueva de Ávalos a natural lookout point from which there is a panoramic view of the towns of Ojocaliente, El Refugio, and Palmillas, a region through which the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro extended.

The need to transport silver extracted from the mines of Zacatecas to the central part of the country, particularly to Mexico City, for smelting and minting influenced the emergence of the stretch of the Royal Inland Road between the city of Zacatecas and the town of Ojocaliente.