The Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila is a cultural

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The 35,019-hectare site is part of an expansive landscape of

blue agave ''Agave tequilana'', commonly called blue agave () or tequila agave, is an agave plant that is an important economic product of Jalisco, Mexico, due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila, a popular distilled beverage. The high production ...

, shaped by the culture of the plant used since the 16th century to produce the spirit known as

tequila Tequila (; ) is a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ('' Los Altos de Jalisco'') of the central western Mexican s ...

and for at least two millennia to make

fermented drink This is a list of fermented foods, which are foods produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms. In this context, fermentation typically refers to the fermentation of sugar to alcohol using yeast, but other fermentation processes involv ...

s (such as

pulque Pulque (; nci, metoctli), or octli, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. It is traditional in central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, a rather viscous c ...

) and cloth. Within the landscape are working distilleries reflecting the growth in the consumption of tequila in the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, this agave culture is seen as part of Mexican

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

. The Tequila landscape has contributed to many works of art such as film, music, dance, and paintings. The site includes the living, working agave fields and the urban settlements of

Tequila Tequila (; ) is a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ('' Los Altos de Jalisco'') of the central western Mexican s ...

, Magdalena, El Arenal and Amatitan. The area is also testimony to the Teuchitlan tradition (AD 200-900) which shaped the landscape through the creation of terraces for agriculture, housing, temples, ceremonial mounds and ball courts.

Gallery

File:Paisaje agavero de Jose Cuervo en Tequila, Jalisco.jpg File:Agave tequila.jpg File:TEQUILA JALISCO - panoramio (1).jpg File:Jose Cuervo ovens.jpg

References

World Heritage Sites in Mexico Mexican culture Tourist attractions in Jalisco Protected areas of Jalisco Tequila {{Jalisco-geo-stub