Wender·Vista
Victoria de Durango
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileMexico
on the high plain of northwestern Mexico, beneath Cerro del Mercado

Victoria de Durango

— — a colonial city standing on a mountain of iron.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The capital of Durango state, founded in 1563 by the Basque conquistador Francisco de Ibarra and named for his home town of Durango in Spain. The old centre is pink and ochre stone; the Baroque cathedral keeps the western corner of the plaza. Just to the north stands Cerro del Mercado, a hill of nearly solid iron ore that the city has been mining for four centuries.

from the studio
Victoria de Durango
— bring it home

Victoria de Durango, 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.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

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.

— about Victoria de Durango

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Victoria de Durango sits at roughly 1,880 metres in the Valle del Guadiana, in northwestern Mexico, with the Sierra Madre Occidental rising to the west. It is the capital of the state of Durango and has a population of about 700,000. Spanish forces under Francisco de Ibarra founded the city on 8 July 1563, naming it for Ibarra's hometown in the Basque Country. The full name, rarely shortened locally, honours Guadalupe Victoria, the first president of Mexico, who was born nearby.

— the stone

Cerro del Mercado, the hill that stands at the northern edge of the historic centre, is one of the largest iron-ore deposits in North America, mined continuously since the late eighteenth century. Most of the colonial city is built in cantera, a workable pink-and-ochre volcanic stone quarried from the surrounding sierras. The Baroque cathedral on the Plaza de Armas was completed in 1844 after nearly a century and a half of work; its bell towers are local cantera over a basalt foundation.

— the visit

Durango is reached most easily by air through Guadalupe Victoria International Airport, 14 kilometres east, with daily flights from Mexico City and Tijuana. By road, the toll highway from Mazatlán crosses the Sierra Madre in about four hours, passing over the Baluarte Bridge, one of the tallest cable-stayed bridges in the world. The dry season runs October through May; July through September brings afternoon mountain storms. The historic centre is compact and walkable; a tram-replica runs the main route past the cathedral.

— where
Mexico · Victoria de Durango, Durango
— elevation
1,880 m · 6,168 ft
— position
24.0277° N · 104.6532° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
1 km N
Cerro del Mercado
iron-ore hill
at the lake
Catedral Basílica Menor de Durango
Baroque cathedral
at the lake
Plaza de Armas
main square
140 km W
Baluarte Bridge
cable-stayed bridge
60 km W
Sierra Madre Occidental
mountain range
N
Victoria de Durango
Cerro del Mercado
Catedral Basílica Menor de Durango
Plaza de Armas
Baluarte Bridge
Sierra Madre Occidental
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Victoria de Durango — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

In northwestern Mexico, on the Valle del Guadiana, at about 1,880 metres elevation. It is the capital of the state of Durango, roughly 970 kilometres northwest of Mexico City and 240 kilometres east of Mazatlán on the Pacific.

On 8 July 1563, by the Basque conquistador Francisco de Ibarra, who named it for his home town of Durango in the Basque Country of northern Spain. The full name Victoria de Durango honours Guadalupe Victoria, Mexico's first president.

A hill of nearly solid iron ore at the northern edge of the city, one of the largest iron deposits in North America. It has been mined continuously since the late eighteenth century and supplies steel mills across Mexico.

The high desert, dry light, and Sierra Madre backdrop made Durango a favoured location for American and Mexican Westerns from the 1950s onward. John Wayne filmed five pictures here, including Chisum in 1970.

October through May, the dry season, when daytime temperatures sit near 22°C and the light is clear. July through September brings afternoon storms; the cathedral fair, the Feria Nacional, runs in early July.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well for that reader. The pink cantera and ochre rooflines of the historic centre land as recognition. A Medium for a study wall, or a Keepsake with a handwritten studio note, travels neatly.

The warm cantera palette settles into Spanish-colonial and Hacienda-modern interiors, into rooms with terracotta and saddle leather, and into warm Mid-century spaces where ochre and rose carry the room.

Above a sofa, the Large works as a single anchor; a 4-tile Mural opens the wall further; a 9-tile Mural carries a long room. Above a console, the Medium or Large.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and tolerate steam and splashes, suiting a backsplash above a vanity or a tile inset in a shower wall.

A soft microfibre cloth with water lifts dust and marks. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and lives beneath a thin glossy finish; it will not fade with cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in-house by the studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. No images are licensed in or out; the work exists only as ceramic tiles finished in our workshop.

— if this one stayed with you

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