Cantera a Stone of the Past and Present

On the highway just below the ancient excavated yacatas/semi-circular stone pyramids at the Tzintzuntzan, Michoacan archaeological site lies another stone wonder, albeit crafted much more recently and fabricated from a vastly different geologic material. At this workshop and display gallery that literally covers a long stretch of roadway on both sides of the highway, are hundreds upon hundreds of off white to pink carvings of every shape, size, and imaginable description. The stone used for these works of art, whose themes range from the bizarre to the whimsical to the practical to the sacred, is cantera.

Derived from the Spanish word for “quarry,” cantera is a natural silica based stone that has been created by volcanic dust and ash being washed into silt beds by rainwater which over time through the process of compression became combined with lava and local rocks, five to fifteen million years ago. It is found throughout the “trans-Mexico volcanic belt” that runs through western central and central Mexico. Cantera is mined and extracted from the earth in quarries.

Coming in the rough in different grades, it is porous, lightweight (weighing significantly less than marble and granite), strong, versatile in its applications, and extremely malleable. Although best known for its pink varieties, cantera also comes in over 130 color variations which includes shades of white, grey, grey/green, beige, tan, brown, orange, red, and black. Due to the stones/materials that it was compressed with, it is typically speckled with inclusions of various colors and shapes. Capable of being easily worked/carved, due to its porosity, the material is cool to the touch and does not naturally crack as it does not expand or contract under extreme weather conditions.

However, it was not until the Spanish along with their technique for carving quarried rock arrived in Mexico in the 16th century that cantera became extensively utilized in the country. Teaching the indigenous people the necessary rock working skills, many of the the churches, monasteries, government buildings, mansions of the Spanish elite, and other structures were constructed throughout the colonial period with cantera in such cities as Morelia, Guadalajara, Queretaro, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Durango, Tlaxcala, Mexico City, Puebla, and Oaxaca. So much pink cantera was used in the development of the city of Zacatecas, including the amazingly intricate façade of its cathedral, that it is known as the city that has a “face of pink stone” (along with a “heart of silver”). Having traveled to all except two of the above “colonial cities,” my favorite example of the use of cantera is the intact yet now nonfunctioning completed in 1789 aqueduct in also exceedingly grandly “pink” Morelia whose over 250 arches extends for two miles and was built entirely with cantera. Consquently, it is not hyperbolic when thinking about Mexico's colonial cities to think cantera!

Nowadays, particularly in Mexico and the southwest region of the U.S., mined and crafted in Mexico cantera is often the material of choice for architects, landscapers, and interior designers. The material is so versatile that it is suitable for such styles as rustic, modern, or even elegant. This natural volcanic stone with an appealing corkboard-like appearance is currently being used in such ways as for columns, entryways, fireplaces/mantels, balustrades, window trim and moldings, wall or floor tiles, stove hoods, pool areas, sinks, fountains, pots, planters, bird baths, benches, sculptures, and miscellaneous decorative pieces. However, unlike marble or granite, due to its porosity it is not the best material for countertops and if used thus, proper care must be taken in sealing it.

While we were at the cantera workshop and gallery in Tzintzuntzan, my wife, Maria, and myself were given a tour by the proprietor and we were thrillingly amazed by the variety, styles, and creativity of the items on display there. As explained to us, all of the cantera was mined in central western or central Mexico in such states as Jalisco and Queretaro. Provided with a drawing or picture, the artisans/carvers employed there could sculpt pretty much anything from it. As a partial illustration of this, among a multiplicity of other creations, we saw (in no particular order, same as presented there) carved saints, skeletons/figures representing death, angels, seahorses, ornamental tablets, pillars/columns, Buddhas, gargoyles, religious crosses, Greek and Roman gods /goddesses and mythological creatures, fountains of all sizes-some as high as twelve feet, South Indian gods/goddesses, unicorns, lions, bird baths, pedestals, mushrooms, planters, Egyptian pharaohs, dragons, cherubs, stacked balls, snakes/serpents, mermaids, horses, snails, birds including owls, cranes, doves, and eagles, fish, turtles, lizards, butterflies, frogs, and squirrels. With its antecedents rooted in the more pragmatic artistry of the Spanish colonialists, as illustrated by this and numerous other workshops in Mexico featuring items crafted from this stone, cantera carving has evolved to become a major traditional artesenal craft in Mexico.

Yet, no matter how hard that I try to convince my wife that we should get a cantera fountain and or a bird bath for our house in Churintzio, Michoacan, although she adores the material and admires the workmanship, the ever pragmatic Maria maintains that our courtyard is just too small. I guess cutting down our pomegranate tree to make space in that courtyard is out of the question! Or how about our placing one or more of those large carved pieces on our mirador-like and spacious roof/terrace if we could somehow manage to get them up those precarious steps and ledge?- or perhaps we could arrange for a crane! Oh well, so at least for the time being, I will have to content myself cantera-wise with the substantial and lovely piece of non-precious fire opal embedded in an unpolished matrix of gorgeous bright pink cantera that I purchased in Tequisquiapan, Queretaro. After all, even, or perhaps especially, in its natural state cantera is quite beautiful and well worth displaying!