By: Leonor López Domínguez
If Bernal has anything remarkable, it is the longevity of its people. They proudly claim that it is largely thanks to the peña (boulder), since it makes them “always look up”, whether at dawn to see the day’s first light or at dusk when they gratefully gaze at its well-known profile.
Villa de Bernal wakes up early in the morning. Brooms that sweep wind-blown dry leaves or the indiscrete traces of people who went to bed late last night, are the only noise at this time.
Little by little, the sun begins to bathe the portales (type of arcade), San Sebastián’s parish, the Casas Reales, Las Ánimas church and the patios of old houses. The sky has changed from pitch black to grayish and pinkish hues, and finally to bright blue, which is the perfect background for the imposing boulder.
La Peña de Bernal (Boulder of Bernal), a 350-meter monolith, seems to have been placed by a giant as a watchtower or gate to Querétaro’s Sierra Gorda mountain range. In the mid 17thcentury, Villa de Vernal was built around the boulder. In the 18thcentury an anonymous person corrected the name’s spelling and changed it to Villa de Bernal. Many of its 6,000 people are proud of the fact that this place has not reached the category of “city”, which, they say, has allowed them to keep their “intimate” relationship with the boulder.
According to recent investigations, Peña de Bernal was formed 100 million years ago (plus, minus a couple of millenniums) during the Jurassic period. At that time, the boulder must have been at least three times higher than today. It is made of porfiroid rocks and is the world’s third highest. Only Spain’s Rock of Gibraltar and Rio de Janeiro’s Pao de Azucar are taller.
A small village was founded at the foot of this amazing sight, which has recently become a popular destination among nature-loving travelers.
A century after the Spanish conquest, there were still numerous Otomí settlements in the center of what is today the state of Querétaro. These Indians were constantly harassed by the indomitable Pame and Jonace branches of the Chichimeca tribe. The best way to protect their families and crops was by having Spanish soldiers on their lands. In 1647, a lieutenant of Basque origin, Alonso Cabrera, his three sons and seven soldiers reached the boulder’s edge. They settled on a strategic place where they could see possible Chichimecan attacks, who meandered around the nearby hills of San Martín and El Zamorano. The Spaniards (from neighboring Cadereyta) built three rooms, a kitchen, a barn and a corral, which were protected by high walls of white rock. The remains of these buildings can be seen at the entrance of Bernal. A century later, a castle-like fortress,known today as Casas Reales (Royal Houses), was built. A couple of years before, San Sebastian’s Congregation had built a three-nave church honoring this saint, who was martyred in Rome in the first century.
In 1850, Villa de Bernal was declared a town and municipality. However, it lost this position in 1918, when the municipality was changed to Ezequiel Montes. For many generations, people from Bernal have fought to have their town become a new municipality in the state. This may occur soon given the large inflow of tourists over the last decade.
Downtown’s portales are a very important part in Bernal’s social life. Here, the locals get together and chat, talk about the town’s most recent events or do business. The town comes to life on weekends: cobblestone streets, inns, restaurants, handicraft stores, food stalls, the small Mask Museum and the colorful patios, are all flooded by visitors. In this unusual place of rest and recreation, tourists can enjoy a blend of history, the townspeople’s warmth and the magical presence of the boulder.
Another attraction is the “gorditas” (dish made with corn flour). These are filled with habas (broad beans), beans, nopal (edible type of cactus) or chicharrón (pork skin), and are sold downtown.
On May 3, Villa de Bernal celebrates the Día de la Santa Cruz (Day of the Holy Cross). The solemn ceremony ends when a 60-kg. wooden cross is taken up the stairs to the top of the boulder, amidst a large crowd of people who sing and pray.
Spring equinox on March 21sthas become an increasingly popular celebration in the last couple of years.
José Velázquez Quintanar, San Juan del Rio’s chronicler and admirer of Bernal, told us the story of this celebration. “In 1992, a group of neighbors and I met in Bernal’s downtown to celebrate the arrival of spring. We put flower pots with lively flowers on doors and windows. We prepared traditional dishes and brought a musical band from San Juan del Río.”. The festivity was so joyful that a year later many visitors from Querétaro and Tequisquiapan came. From then on and at someone’s anonymous suggestion, people dressed in white and wore a red paliacate (bandana).
Velázquez Quintanar said, “ exactly at noon, we all held hands and prayed for peace. The following year, a group of visitors climbed to the boulder’s top and shined the day’s first light with small mirrors. By this time, we already had dancing groups and had started doing the new fire ritual. A young lady would light the new fire and send it to the four cardinal points”.
In 1996 and 1997, the celebration was promoted on a state level. “People from different places and ideologies came. They all respected different beliefs and were amazed at the place’s beauty. Today it is considered a universal celebration of friendship”.
“The Boulder of Bernal is a powerful magnet. Those who go close to it receive physical, mental and spiritual energy. You must love it, know it and enjoy it. It is the world’s most beautiful boulder- full of cliffs and crags, a continuous change of lights and shadows, which you can see and admire in a single 2-kilometer walk”, said Velázquez Quintanar.
Aside from its beauty, Bernal is also famous for the longevity of its people. Though it seems incredible, the average life expectancy in this corner of Mexico is 94.7 years. Many old folks walk along the streets and paths. Take Don José Flores, whom at age 102, still worked and had married his third wife at the tender age of 90. Or, 89-year old Don Concepción Rincón, who still managed the wool blanket business he founded in 1927.
Bernal’s people proudly claim that the climate, food and small-town peacefulness are factors that explain their longevity. However, the boulder is the main reason, since it makes them “always look up” whether at dawn to see the day’s first light or at dusk when they gratefully gaze at its well-known profile.
Source: México desconocido # 291 / May 2001
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