Santa Rosalia

About

Santa Rosalia is one of Baja’s most unique towns, with wooden homes with some French flair. Which makes sense considering it was founded by a French mining company in the 1880s. Pay a visit to the half-timbered Museum of Mining History, which was originally the old mining office, and is now filled with photos and relics from the town’s past. Many of the industrial facilities from the mining era were left in situ, and there are locomotives, mining equipment, and machinery scattered among the shops and houses. But Santa Rosalia’s main landmark is the Iglesia de Santa Bárbara. This prefabricated iron church was designed by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel and shown at the 1889 Exposition Universelle of Paris, before the Boleo Mining Company bought it and shipped it to Santa Rosalía in late 1897. Before you go, make sure to grab something from the nearby Panadería El Boleo, Mexico’s best French bakery, which has been open since 1901.