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Founding
Founding of Tequila
municipal seat of Tequila, State of Jalisco, Mexico
- 15 April 1530
- Mesoamerica and the Caribbean
Founding
municipal seat of Tequila, State of Jalisco, Mexico
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Santiago de Tequila (Spanish: [teˈkila] ⓘ; Nahuatl languages: Tequillan, Tecuila "place of tribute") is a Mexican town and municipality located in the state of Jalisco about 60 km from the city of Guadalajara. Tequila is best known as being the birthplace of the drink that bears its name, "tequila," which is made from the blue agave plant, native to this area. The heart of the plant contains natural sugars and was traditionally used to make a fermented drink. After the Spanish arrived, they took this fermented beverage and distilled it, producing the tequila known today. The popularity of the drink and the history behind it has made the town and the area surrounding it a World Heritage Site. It was also named a "Pueblo Mágico" (Magical Town) in 2003 by the Mexican federal government.
The coat of arms of the municipality was officially adopted on 31 December 1983 by the municipal council. It contains the Latin phrase ALMA LAETA NOBILIS, meaning "cheerful and noble soul". Its representative symbols include the tower of the main church in the town of Tequila, the chimneys of the distilleries, the agave plant and Tequila Mountain.
The first peoples to live in this area were probably the people from the shaft tomb culture during the Middle Formative Period. By the Late Formative and Classic period, the Teuchitlan tradition entered the region. Several guachimonton complexes were built nearby such as Huitzilapa to the west and Amatitan to the east. The Epiclassic saw an intrusion of peoples from the Bajio region during a period of intense drought bringing with them many Central Mexican characteristics. By the Postclassic a variety of ethnic identities were in the region such as Caxcan, Cora, and Huichol. The major pre-Hispanic settlement was not where the town of Tequila is today, but rather in a place called Teochtinchán. After the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Spanish moved west and this region became part of what was known as Nueva Galicia during the colonial period. Initial resistance to Spanish domination was brief. Local people fortified their major town, but in the end decided to surrender peacefully.
The village of Santiago de Tequila was founded in 1530 by Franciscan friars, who moved many of the local people here from Chiquihuitillo Mountain (now known as Tequila Volcano). In 1541, indigenous people in various parts of Nueva Galicia revolted against Spanish rule. Locally, The Tecoxines and Caxcanes in the towns of Tlaltenango, Xochipila, Nochictlán and Teocaltech rebelled first, with those in Tequila joining later. These rebels made their stand on Tequila Mountain. Friar Juan Calero of the monastery near Tequila went to try and pacify the situation, but he was killed by a barrage of arrows and rocks. His body was stripped of its robes and hung on the local stone idol. Another monk who died trying to negotiate a settlement was Friar Antonio de Cuellar of the Etzatlan monastery. In October 1541, the situation in Nueva Galicia was so serious that the viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza, arrived from Mexico City. Rebel chief Diego Zacatecas went to meet with the viceroy, but was immediately taken prisoner by the Spanish. The price for his release was the end of the rebellion and for the chief to convert to Christianity.
In 1600, Pedro Sánchez de Tagle decided to build a large scale distilling operation based on a local fermented beverage made with the local agave plant. He also introduced the idea of cultivating this plant, native to the region, on a mass scale.
At the beginning of the 19th century came another rebellion in the Tequila area, this time led by a man only known as "The Gold Mask". This rebellion was suppressed by the governor of Nueva Galicia, José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa, for which he was subsequently promoted to viceroy of Peru.
Shortly after this came the Mexican War of Independence. Rafael Pérez, under orders from José María Mercado, came to Tequila with 200 men to take over the town from royalist forces. After Independence, the town to Tequila was made the seat of one of the departments of the new state of Jalisco. When these departments were reorganized into municipalities, the town of Tequila was made the seat of the municipality of the same name. In 1874, the town of Tequila was given the official status of city. This was in recognition of an event in 1873, when Sixto Gorjón, about 50 police and citizens of Tequila fought off a group of bandits headed by Manuel Lozada, known as "The Tiger of Alicia".
The town of Tequila had a population of 26,809 (2010 census), accounting for about 73% of the municipality's inhabitants. It contains the main parish church, Our Lady of the Purísima Concepción, built in the 18th century by Martín Casillas. The church has a stone facade, a bell tower and inverted truncated pyramid (estipite) pilasters that flank the main portal. The portal has two levels and a crown. The first level contains the door arch with has moulding and a seal and is supported by two Doric columns. The upper portion contains a window with moulding with Doric columns in each side, decorated with curves and vegetable motifs. The crown at the top contains a sculpture of the Archangel Michael in a niche flanked by Doric columns. The side portal is an arched entrance with Tuscan columns and cornice and a cross in relief at the midpoint. Inside are one nave and a Neoclassical main altar. Also inside is a statue of Our Lady of the Conception that dates from 1865.
Notable secular structures include the Quinta Sauza, built in the 1830s, and the La Perseverancia distillery, which was built in 1873. The Quinta Sauza has a large exterior garden with elaborate stone fountains. In the atrium, there are carvings with scenes from the passion of Christ. The facade of the house has reliefs of plants in which there are several entrances. Inside, there is a courtyard with a decorated fountain in the center and the entrance to the chapel in the back, which is decorated with plant and serpent motifs. In La Perseverancia there is a huge work painted by Gabriel Flores in 1969 depicting the making and drinking of tequila. The distillery has guided tours. This distillery also has a museum in front of the municipal palace, containing paintings, photographs, sculptures and the machinery of the La Perseverancia distillery and a room dedicated to regional crafts.
The National Museum of Tequila (MUNAT) is located in the town of Tequila on land that was purchased and set aside by Cipriano Rosales at the beginning of the 20th century for cultural and/or educational activities. The Eduardo González Primary School was established first in 1933 and became a vocational high school in 1979. This was closed in the 1980s due to the deterioration of the building. After extensive remodeling, it reopened as the Casa de Cultura Tequilense (Tequila Cultural Center) and remained so until 2000, when it was converted into the National Museum of Tequila. It is the first museum in the world dedicated to this liquor.
Just 10 km outside the town of Tequila proper is the Sanctuary of Saint Toribio Romo González on the road that leads to the Balneario La Toma, in a community called Agua Caliente. Toribio Romo was recently canonized by John Paul II. The Sanctuary is located in the place where Saint Toribio, as in commonly known was apprehended and shot during the Cristero War.
The National Festival of Tequila is held every year from the end of November to the middle of December. During this event, a Tequila Queen is crowned and the main distillers in the area all have a presence with samples of their tequila. There are also charreada events and a parade with floats, cockfights, mariachis, fireworks and rides. This festival coincides with the feast of Tequila's patron saint, Our Lady of the Purisíma Concepción.
There is a local tradition of a nightly blessing of the town by the parish priest. At 9pm every night, the priest offers blessings by ringing a bell three times, and directing the holy of holyest cross with the sacraments towards all 4 cardinal points. At this moment, everyone in the town stops what they are doing, including turning off things like the television or radio, and stands for the blessing.
The beverage called tequila is really a variety of mezcal, made wholly or mostly from the blue agave plant. This plant is native to the Tequila area so this version of mescal was named after the town. Use of the agave plant goes far back into the pre-Hispanic period. Traditionally, it was cultivated to combat soil erosion, used as an element in house construction, in the production of cleaning products, and more. The "piña" (lit. pineapple) or heart of the plant was used by the indigenous peoples cooked as a sweet, and as the base for a fermented alcoholic beverage. This beverage was called mescal by the native people and was much like what is called pulque today. By the time the Spanish arrived, the natives had already been cultivating the plant. The Spanish first considered taking the plant back to Spain but decided to develop it and its product in Mexico.
The Spanish introduced distillation to turn the native fermented mescal into what is now known as tequila. The original mescal was already a well-known drink that was sold in towns regularly, and when the Spanish discovered this they used it as the source product for distillation. It was an excellent product because by 1546, soldiers were obliged to mix their water with these agave alcohols, as drinking water was often contaminated. Drinks made from Agave plants rose in popularity very quickly. Agave products were prized to the extent that they were objects of trade over considerable distances, for example, from Arizona's Grand Canyon as much as 450 km eastward to consumers on the Colorado Plateau.
The first large-scale distillery was created in 1600 and over the colonial period demand for the drink resulted in some of the oldest, still-operating enterprises in this area such as: "La Rojeña", founded in 1795; "El Tigre" (now La Constancia) founded in 1823; Destiladora de Occidente (now "Tequila D'Reyes") founded in 1840; La Perseverancia (now Tequila Sauza) founded in 1873; El Llano (now Tequila Azteca) founded in 1876; La Mexicana (now Tequila Orendain) founded 1879.
The progress of tequila as a national drink was not without several "booms" and fall-backs. The initial boom on a global scale that would promote the drink further was when the drink began to captivate the European palette. Mexicans going to Europe discovered that their national drink was famous there, and upon returning they would drink it and promote it in their social circles. In this way we see the globalization process, and the progress of the drink as a symbol of identity for the region. Further, in 1873, the "Mezcal wine" (a former name used when referring to Tequila the drink) from the region of Jalisco was officially named "Tequila", in order to distinguish it from Mezcal spirits produced in the south of Mexico, such as those produced in Oaxaca.
The name "Tequila" has been protected by the Mexican government since 1974, and its use is limited to products distilled from agave grown in certain regions of Mexico. These regions are in the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Guanajuato, and parts of the State of Tamaulipas. The lands in Tamaulipas were added later as the need to cultivate blue agave grew, and these lands and the agave grown on them were certified by the Mexican government for quality. The term is also limited to fifteen production facilities such as Tequila Sauza, Tequila Orendaín, and Jorge Salles Cuervo.
Long-established distilleries here produce between 500 and 1000 liters a day but this is not enough to meet the international demand for the product, which has skyrocketed since the 1980s. The number of brands of tequila have also increased exponentially, since the incorporation of national and international investors, politicians, entrepreneurs, distribution intermediaries, marketers, among others, have made their appearance interested in participating in the mezcal market. The popularity of the drink has led to the attraction of thousands of visitors to the area each year to see the fields, distilleries, Museo Nacional de Tequila (The National Museum of Tequila), the Barraca de Tequila and to ride the Tequila Express, which is a train that runs from Guadalajara to tequila country, arriving at the Tequila railway station. The train has 4 cars with a capacity of 68 people and usually requires that tickets be bought a month in advance.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Tequila, Jalisco”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.