El Camino Real International Heritage Center
Photo Gallery - Inside the Visitor's Center
Inside the Heritage Center
Credit: El Camino Real IHC
The entrance to the Visitor's gallelry. Through the entrance, visitors step back in time 300 years to emerge
in the old plaza of Zecatecas, Mexico to begin their journey along El Camino Real.
Credit: El Camino Real IHC
The carreta (cart) carried thousands of people, and their belongings, along El Camino Real.
Credit: El Camino Real IHC
The Plaza de Zacatecas as it appeared 300 years ago. All exhibits and interpretive displays are in English
and Spanish.
Credit: El Camino Real IHC
A gentle ramp begins El Camino Real, with displays and exhibits describing the trail and the regions it
passed through in the 1600 and 1700s.
Credit: El Camino Real IHC
The trail ends on the Santa Fe plaza - though the real trail continued to Taos and southern Colorado.
Credit: El Camino Real IHC
El Camino Real also brought culture, religion and literature from the old world that formed the heritage
of today's Mexico and New Mexico.
Credit: El Camino Real IHC
A tienda (store) shows some of the items that were sold, and neccessary, for life in Mexico and New Mexico
in colonial days. These store items were brought to New Mexico from Mexico and Spain by regular supply wagons over
the Camino Real.
Click on photos to enlarge
Due to the remote location, building the Heritage Center was quite an ordeal. New Mexico State Monuments, the architect and
contractor, and Foundation Board Members all worked together for two years to see the dream come true. The Center has received
several awards for the displays and presentation.
Photos & info on the Center's Horno (adobe oven) and how it was built
Photos & info on the Center's Carreta (oxen drawn cart) and how it was built
