The today city of Villa de Reyes was called in its primitive origins of the 16th century,

simply site of the San Francisco Valley, it happened that the missionaries went ahead with

their work of Christian evangelization to the conquerors who tried to subdue the natives by

means of the arms and for that matter they founded several forts in different places of the

great tunal, these military establishments were called presidios. This is: Pre = Before and

Sitium = Site, that is to say: before the settlement of any population.

In the old San Francisco Valley and which currently corresponds to the municipality of

Villa de Reyes, there are five farms that were the protagonists of important passages in the

history of the country.

SAN PEDRO GOGORRÓN Located 5 km from the city of San Luis Potosí, the San Pedro

Gogorrón farm was built in 1750 by the miner and merchant Pedro Arizmendi Gogorrón. It

is said that at first it operated as a textile and mezcal factory, but reached its peak due to the

discovery of 16 thermal springs, which reach 40 degrees Celsius, whose waters are

attributed healing properties. Over the years, the architecture of the hacienda has been

modified. The original Baroque style of the great house and the chapel was replaced by the

more eclectic of the Porfiriato, which can be seen in the arches, corridors and facades.

Currently, the architectural beauty of the hacienda attracts a large number of tourists each

year, who undertake a fascinating journey to the colonial past of Mexico.

BLEDOS The Bledos farm is located south of the head of the municipality of Villa de

Reyes. In its beginnings it was a wide valley covered with fields of crops, famous for the

spring known as Cienega de los Bledos. According to bibliographic data, in 1676 the

lawyer Francisco Guerrero was named as the owner of the hacienda, since he married the

heiress. The hacienda had 12 caballerias and a large area that, by 1709, covered 21,674

hectares. In 1733, the heiress of Francisco Guerrero Villanueva Velasco sold the farm to a

merchant from San Luis Potosí, who dedicated himself to farming and ranching.

CALDERÓN The Calderón farm was part of the Bledos farm and later San Pedro

Gogorrón. According to historical sources, in that place Félix María Calleja received the

statement that informed him about the armed uprising of the priest Hidalgo. Calleja set out

from Calderón's hacienda to confront the insurgents led by Hidalgo. Currently, it consists of

10 thousand square meters of construction. Among its particularities are a sundial, a chapel

and a fountain brought from Spain by Viceroy Calleja de España, which is located in the

main courtyard. Today, it is home to a spa, a country hotel and campgrounds.

CARRANCO Due to the system of rivers that run down the ravines and the region's

impervious soil, the owners of the Carranco farm will have an important source of

groundwater at their disposal. A large quantity of silver was extracted from its

surroundings, due to the rich mineral veins found in the area. By the 18th century, the

hacienda was named San Cristóbal de los Bledos bajo Ignacio Carranco, as it is known
today. At the beginning of the 19th century, mining production was considerably reduced

and agricultural and livestock activities were preferred.

LA VENTILLA Hacienda La Ventilla is located 2 km from the deviation of Hacienda

Calderón. Throughout its history it has been in the hands of the Irish, such as the Meade

family, the current owner, whose first relatives to take possession of it were the brothers

Deany and Ricardo Meade, some 200 years ago. Legend has it that three crosses were

drawn in La Ventilla that formed a triangle and right in the center was buried one of the

treasures that belonged to the count of Jaral de Berrio. To date, only two of the three

supposed treasures have been recovered and they say that the missing one is more valuable

than the one looted by Francisco Javier Mina when he took the hacienda by storm.