Latin American Colonial Towns

For some reason, as much as they possess a stunning regularity, I am always seduced into traveling long distances, usually uncomfortable miles, to see another Latin Colonial Town. Now every Latin town, almost without exception, will have a Cathedral worth looking at, a cute town plaza, called a Zocalo in Mexico, and The Plaza Mayor, or Parque Central in the rest of Latin America. What makes these towns different is that in most modern Latin towns, the architecture beyond this square, or perhaps even on it, was destroyed to make way for growth and rid the homes of the plaster and thatch that can harbor pests that carry disease, and doesn't necessarily stand up to the elements, but in these towns, what makes them distinct, is that the architecture doesn't change to cement block for blocks if not a mile, in what is usually a concentric pattern from the Plaza Mayor that is fairly uniform in all directions. In other words, no matter how crappy it eventually becomes, if it is colonial and charming for 200 meters north of the Town Square, it will usually also be Colonial and Charming 200m west, east, and south before it drops off to the banal cement homes that make up Latin America everywhere, with high walls, bad lighting, and barking dogs. The best case scenario, seen occasionally but not often, is that the town drops off to farmland and perhaps even forest or jungle from the last colonial house... these are special places.

Most Countries in Latin America have one special town they have cleaned up and send the tourists to, and they treat it as their cultural homeland. The best ones join the ever growing list of World Heritage sites, many deservedly, some just because the UN has a hard time saying no.
Here is a list of as many notable ones as I could think of or have visited, as exhaustive a list as I can come up with. My favorite, for some odd reason, is Casco Viejo in Panama City, which still has a lovely blend of charm, ocean, down and out, and creativity.

If you can believe it, this list starts in the United States:
Tumacacori Mission, Arizona just a mission, but amazingly pristine
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Barbera Mission, California

Mission San Antonio de Padua, Fort Hunter Ligget, California again, just a mission, but pristine

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Luis, Colorado (hard to explain.. not completely, but they still use the Water Canal System from the days when it was part of Mexico)

Mexico has 50 Colonial Towns they have dolled up and given special distinction, and extra money to stimulate tourism. The Extra money isn't always great. They are paving all the streets now of Todos Santos, in southern Baja, and it is somehow removing something, but the place does look more first world now no doubt.
50 Pueblo Magicos
http://www.pueblosmexico.com.mx/pueblos_magicos.php
San Cristobol de Las Casas
Cuernavaca, Morelos (Cortez's headquarters)
Tasco, Guerro (famous for it's dramatic mountainside setting)
Todos Santos, BCS
San Ignacio, BCS
Mulege, BCS
El Triunfo, BCS
Loreto BCS
Mexcaltitan, Nayarit   the Mexican Venice

Havana Cuba
Cienfuegos Cuba
Trinidad Cuba
Camaguey Cuba

Bamayo Cuba

Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

Vinales Cuba

Antigua, Guatemala
Granada, Nicaragua
Casco Viejo, Ciudad Panama, Panama
Portobello, Panama
Nombre De Dios, Panama (perhaps the oldest settlement on the mainland of the Americas)
Cartagena, Colombia
Mompox, Colombia
La Mina, Cesar, Colombia
Popoyan, Colombia
Villa De Lavaya, Colombia
Santa Fe De Antioquia, Antioquia, Colombia
Barichara, Colombia
La Candelaria, Bogota, Colombia
Paraty, Brazil
Salvador, Brazil
Ouro Prieto, Brazil
Cusco, Peru
Cotacachi, Ecuador
Quito,Ecuador
Las Penas, Guayaquil, Ecuador (tiny portion of guayaquil, although historically significant)
Cuenca, Ecuador
Parroquia de Tumbabiro, Ecuador
Sucre, Bolivia
Valparaiso, Chile