The colonial city of El Fuerte was founded in 1564 as the town of San Juan Bautista de Carapoa, by the Spanish captain Francisco de Ibarra.
To learn about the history of Don Diego de la Vega, better known as El Zorro, you can visit the Magic Town of El Fuerte, in Sinaloa.
The legend says that the businessman Don Alejandro de la Vega from Chihuahua married Maria de la Cruz Gaxiola from Guasave in 1795 in Fort Montesclaros, Sinaloa , having a son to Diego de la Vega , who later would fight in Alta California against the injustices of colonization as a masked bandit, which would give him the name of El Zorro .
Diego was born in a colonial-style mansion in room number 46, which is now part of the Hotel Posada del Hidalgo El Fuerte
The death of Josefina and the collapse of mining forced Don Diego and son to emigrate to Alta California, where they found many sinaloan countrymen. In 1821, fifteen years later, his exploits are known in El Fuerte, in the mines of the Spanish crown: the intrepid and romantic rider disguises himself as El Zorro, after leaving his home next to the Fuerte River, to defend the poor from the occupation Spanish.
legend has it and even their workers say that sometimes the sounds of chains, the whip, the grinding of the horse and the spurs belonging to El Zorro are heard.
Today El Fuerte is a place where you will find, among many other things, beautiful architectural samples. The Municipal Palace, the Plaza de Armas, with its attractive wrought-iron kiosk, the House of Culture, the Hotel Posada del Hidalgo and the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, just to mention some of the most important works; the legacy of our ancestors.
Other offers that it makes for you are the hunting clubs, for the practice of sport hunting and fishing. The Río Fuerte basin is rich in cave inscriptions, left by Nahogas groups, who traveled in pre-Hispanic times through the Sinaloa immigration corridor. In total there are approximately 45 stones that together contain more than 100 engravings, which have an estimated age between 800 and 2500 years.
It is here in this beautiful place where you can discover “The legend of the fort, the cradle of Zorro”, a character that has become famous through cinema and that, according to the chronicles, was born in this town nestled between the Sea of Cortez and the Copper Canyon.
In the courtyard of the Hotel Posada is the statue with the image of this legendary character. Its legend was read during the unveiling act and, from this, tourism has rebounded.
The legend passed from generation to generation and was still heard in the days of Porfirio Díaz. Later, the revolutionary movement of our country left it in oblivion, until the chroniclers came to “dust it off”.
The merchants of El Fuerte, which is 90 kilometers from Los Mochis, begin to sell souvenirs: quinceañeras take the picture with the statue and with the person who plays the character for tourists, by the way, according to them, it is A very handsome and skilled young man with the sword. They also enjoy dancing with him, and they even hear him sing along with musicians.
Source: asiesmimexico, el finnciero, revistaespejo
The Mazatlan Post
