Baños Termales de Ojocaliente

Baños Termales de Ojocaliente is a historic thermal spring site in the municipality of Ojocaliente in Aguascalientes state, Mexico, whose very name — Aguascalientes, meaning 'hot waters' — derives from the thermal springs that define the region's natural identity, and where the Ojocaliente springs in particular were celebrated since the colonial period for their geothermal mineral waters emerging from the volcanic geology of the central Mexican plateau in one of New Spain's most thermally endowed highland territories. The state of Aguascalientes — named for its abundant hot springs — developed around a colonial silver mining and ranching economy served by the thermal bathing culture that used the mineral waters for relaxation and well-being since the Spanish founded the city in the sixteenth century, and the Ojocaliente springs represent this oldest layer of the Aguascalientes thermal heritage. Today the springs are embedded in a city that has become one of Mexico's most prosperous mid-sized industrial and cultural centers — home to the world-famous San Marcos Fair — while maintaining the thermal spring identity that its very name has always proclaimed.