Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro

In the rugged Sierra Gorda of Querétaro, Franciscan missionaries and Indigenous artisans together built five mission churches in the mid-18th century, their façades bursting with colour and hybrid imagery — a genuinely shared creation rather than an imported style. The missions later served as a reference point for evangelisation pushing north into California, Arizona and Texas. UNESCO inscribed them in 2003, still ringed by villages that keep their vernacular character.