History of San Blas

       We just recently sailed to a small town called San Blas. It is located about 120 miles south of Mazatlan. The town was one of the most important ports on the Pacific side of Mexico because it is right in the middle of Alaska and Cape Horn. The Spanish colonizers would leave from San Blas to go to explore Alaska and California and bring trades to and from China.        The historical town of San Blas used to be a busy naval town. In 1530 Nuío de Guzman landed in San Blas and lived there for a little while. When he left, only a hand full of people stayed. An occasional pirate ship or galleon needing to resupply or hide, would come for a short time then leave for the following two-hundred years. New Spain began to to look for a military bases. In 1768 San Blas was officially founded, and became a military stronghold. San Blas also became a busy port because sailors could resupply easily. Since San Blas is located in the middle of a mangroves, it became a major shipyard because of the abundance of wood. New Spain built a fort called, Cerro de Basilio on top of a hill for a military base and office. The busy town was thriving until 1810 when Spain went to war against the Mexicans. The Mexicans took over Cerro de Basilio and won independence from the Spanish. After the war San Blas slowly went down in population because of the moving of sand bars, shallow waters, and the bugs. Still to this day not many tourists come to San Blas and go to less buggy and deep water ports(See my mom’s post). 

       When the Spanish came to Mexico, every sailor worshipped The Lady of the Rosary or “The Seafarer”. “The Seafarer Virgin” was present in all the voyages to New Spain(now known as Mexico). A ship called a frigate, carried a statue of her in the interior of the ship during the crossing. In 1787 an electrical thunderstorm started a fire and destroyed part of the temple, the Spanish made in honor of “The Seafarer”, and destroyed the statue. In 2000 Miguel de la Quadra got permission to make an exact replica of the original. If you go to San Blas you can see the replica in the church downtown.