Abstract

HERNANDEZ SOUBERVIELLE, José Armando. No Place to Spend the Night in "The Gateway to the Provinces": The Inns of San Luis Potosí. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2012, vol.33, n.132bis, pp.151-190. ISSN 2448-7554.

Perhaps because so few primary sources have been discovered or, perhaps, because they are indeed scarce, the important topic of the history and analysis of inns in northern New Spain in the 17^th and 18^th centuries has been little examined by scholars. The aim of this article is to present an analysis of the factors that explain why today we know so little about this type of architecture in San Luis Potosí during the Viceregal period, especially when we take into account that this territory was called the "Gateway to the Provinces" (la garganta de la Tierra Adentro) and, therefore, was a zone that travelers were obliged to traverse en route to northern New Spain. The essay also presents, for the first time, data that document the presence of some inns in the area in the 18^th century, together with a spatial analysis that includes information on their locations and proprietors. Finally, it summarizes their history up to the early 19^th century.

Keywords : Inns; Royal Road to the Provinces; San Luis Potosí; northern New Spain.

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