Valle de Allende is the municipal seat and largest city of the municipality of Allende in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Originally named Valle de San Bartolomé for Bartholomew the Apostle, it was founded in 1569 by Franciscan friars. The city is one of the oldest in Chihuahua.
The city received its current name in 1825 in honor of Ignacio Allende, a military leader during the Mexican War of Independence. It is part of the "El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro" (site 1351-059)
El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (English: The Royal Road of the Interior Land), also known as the Silver Route, was a Spanish 2,560-kilometre-long (1,590 mi) road between Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo (Ohkay Owingeh), New Mexico (in the modern U.S.), that was used from 1598 to 1882. It was the northernmost of the four major "royal roads" that linked Mexico City to its major tributaries during and after the Spanish colonial era.
In 2010, 55 sites and five existing UNESCO World Heritage Sites along the Mexican section of the route were collectively added to the World Heritage List, including historic cities, towns, bridges, haciendas and other monuments along the 1,400-kilometre (870 mi) route between the Historic Center of Mexico City (also a World Heritage Site on its own) and the town of Valle de Allende, Chihuahua.
Allende Municipality (Spanish: Municipio de Allende) is one of 67 municipalities in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, located in the southeastern portion of the state. Valle de Allende is its municipal seat and largest city. Its main claim to fame is the 1969 fall of the Allende meteorite.