Looking southeast at the Church San Sebastian y Sta. Prisca finish in 1758.
Taxco sits on a hill among hills at 4675' in the State of Guerrero Highway 55 passes through the eastern end f town. Prior to the Spanish arrival, Taxco was a Tlahuica city named Tlaxco (ballcourt). The Tlahuicans were exploiting the shallow deposits of tin and silver about 6 miles south of modern Taxco very near Taxco Veijo. Tlaxco was attacked by the Aztec Emperor Ixcoatl prior to 1440, but did not fall until t he Aztec Emperor Moctezuma I Ilhuicamina annex Tlaxco in 1444. Tlaxco remained on the Aztec tribute roles until the Spanish arrival. Cortez prior to 1524 discovers tin and iron ores in the area. Cortez claimed this area for himself, but by 1534 it is listed as a Mina Real property. The King of Spain soon improved the mining technics opening the king's shaft on Cerro Bermejo.
This shaft was enlarged to 300' wide, 8' tall and 2000' deep by 1798. The real silver wealth was not realized until Francisco de la Borda arrived from France in 1712. He opened the mine Tehuilotepec about 5 miles east of modern Taxco with imported native workers. He was joined by his brother Aragonese Jose de la Borda in 1716. Over the next 50 years Aragonese Jose de la Borda earned more than 40 million pesos from his efforts at Taxco. Aragonese Jose de la Borda had the church San Sebastian y Sta. Prisca built as a "payment' for a "Title". Jose Maria Morelos with the assistance of magistrate of the city, Jose Fernandezde Lizardi captured Taxco in December of 1811. Porfirio Diaz captured Taxco in 1863 after an extended siege. His troop took vicious revenge on the defender after their surrender. Sometime in the early 1920s William Spratling took up residency in Taxco to write a book. He was on leave from Tulane University where he was a professor of Architecture. Soon after his arrival he began to frequent several of the silversmith shops. He soon bought a hacienda on the outskirts of town an began a jewelry design studio, workshop, school. He brought in visiting artist-designers from all over the world and took on numerous student-apprentices.
