Saltillo
— — a desert city the wind goes around.
Not only on a wall.
“Capital of Coahuila, sitting at about 1,600 metres on the dry Chihuahuan plateau. Founded in 1577, one of the oldest Spanish-era settlements in northern Mexico. Locals call it the Athens of the North for its old university tradition, and the sarape woven here gave its name to a pattern the rest of the world copied. From the studio.
Saltillo, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Saltillo is the capital of the Mexican state of Coahuila, sitting at about 1,600 metres above sea level on the southern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert. The city was founded in 1577 by the Spanish captain Alberto del Canto, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in northern Mexico. It lies about 85 kilometres southwest of Monterrey, with the Sierra Madre Oriental rising along its eastern horizon. The 2020 census recorded a metropolitan population near 900,000, and the city anchors one of Mexico's largest automotive manufacturing corridors.
The historic centre is built around the Plaza de Armas, with the Cathedral of Santiago on its north side — a Churrigueresque baroque church begun in 1745 and completed nearly a century later, considered one of the finest colonial cathedrals north of Mexico City. The Government Palace of Coahuila stands opposite. Quarried sandstone from local pits gives the old buildings their warm ochre colour. Saltillo tile, the heavy terracotta floor tile shipped worldwide, has been made in the surrounding villages since the colonial period.
Saltillo is reached by Highway 40 from Monterrey, about an hour by car, or by Plan de Guadalupe International Airport in nearby Ramos Arizpe. The dry high-desert climate runs cool through the winter, with overnight frost on the plateau between December and February, and warm dry summers. The Museo del Sarape on Allende preserves the weaving tradition that gave the city its place in northern Mexican craft. The Desert Museum on the southern edge holds the country's most thorough collection of Chihuahuan flora and fauna.