Tour de Guadalajara

As many of you probably know, I was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. You've probably heard me say how it is the "cradle of Mexican culture and civilization". Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico (over 4 million people in the metropolitan area) and the capital of the State of Jalisco which is were Tequila, Mariachi, the best Charros - Mexican cowboys -, Chivas -the best Mexican soccer team - and Carlos Santana are from (see why I say it's the cradle of Mexican Culture?).



Hana and Sydney are there right now spending a month with my parents and visiting friends and family. Yesterday nonna (my mom, their grandma) took them on a two hour bus tour of the city, it was on a double decker, London Style Bus. They went with their cousins Pablo and Ana Paula...
Nonna made and interesting comment after the tour, she said that thanks to the girls being there visiting she was able to see a Guadalajara that was new to her and/or that she had forgotten about. Has it ever happened to you that tourists seem to know more about the place where you are from? It seems that we take the place where we live for granted and tend to forget its historical past and treasures it holds. So here is a little bit about the tour they took and the places they saw.....

GUADALAJARA

The town of Guadalajara was founded in 1531 by Spanish explorer Cristóbal de Oñate, who was commissioned by the conquistador Nuño de Guzmán. It consisted of 42 inhabitants settled on the Mesa del Cerro, near the border with Nochistlán in the province of Teúl, known today as San Juan de Los Lagos. The name Guadalajara was taken from the birthplace of Nuño de Guzmán in Spain.

Guzmán and Cristóbal de Oñate decided to relocate to a place with more water, fewer dust storms and better transportation. They began the project on May 19, 1533, and by August 8, 1533 they had moved the town to its second location, near Tonalá. Two years later, in March 1535, they again moved the town to a new location.

On November 8, 1539 the emperor Charles V granted a coat of arms and the title of City to Guadalajara.

After a large attack by natives on September 28, 1541 during the War of the Mixtón, it was decided once more to relocate the city and re-establish it again in the Atemajac Valley.
Today's city of Guadalajara was founded at this site by Crístobal de Oñate on February 14, 1542, by Royal decree of King Charles V.

During the Colonial era, Guadalajara became the capital of Nueva Galicia and prior to the War of Independence it was the capital of the Intendencia of Guadalajara.

The city is named after the Spanish city of Guadalajara, whose name originates from the Arabic phrase (وادي الحجرة) Wādī al-Ḥijārah, meaning "valley of stones" or "river than runs among stones".

LA CATEDRAL

The downtown cathedral, dedicated to the Virgin of the Assumption when it was begun in 1561, was finished about 30 years later. A potpourri of styles—Moorish, Gothic, Renaissance, and Classic—make up its spires, arches, and facades. Although an earthquake demolished its steeples in 1818, they were rebuilt and resurfaced with cheery canary yellow tiles in 1854.

Inside, side altars and white facades climax at the principal altar, built over a tomb containing the remains of several former clergy, including the mummified heart of renowned Bishop Cabañas. One of the main attractions is the Virgin of Innocence, in the nave, left side, to the left of the entrance. The glass-enclosed figure contains the bones of a 12-year-old girl who was martyred in the third century and forgotten, then rediscovered in the Vatican catacombs in 1786 and shipped to Guadalajara in 1788.

EL TEMPLO EXPIATORIO

Templo Expiatorio (Temple of Atonement). The temple commenced in 1897 by Italian architect Adamo Boari, who is celebrated for the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. Although the soaring neo-Gothic facade and its towering 25-bell carillon are impressive enough, the radiant contemporary French stained-glass windows inside are the main attraction. Besides Biblical themes, one of the glass panes is, interestingly, of architect Ignacio Díaz Morales, who finished the interior construction in 1972 (and who is buried in the Grand Crypt beneath the sacristy behind the altar). The bells, accompanied by a mechanical procession of the Twelve Apostles, toll daily, at 9 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m.

TEATRO DEGOLLADO

Outside, at the eastern end of the plaza, rises the timeless silhouette of the Teatro Degollado. The theater’s classic, columned facade climaxes in an epic marble frieze, depicting the allegory of Apollo and the nine muses. The Degollado’s resplendent grand salon is said to rival the gilded refinement of Milan’s renowned La Scala. Overhead, its ceiling glows with Gerardo Suárez’s panorama of canto IV of Dante’s Divine Comedy, complete with its immortal cast—Julius Caesar, Homer, Virgil, Saladin—and the robed and wreathed author himself in the middle. Named for millionaire Governor Degollado, who financed its construction, the theater opened with appropriate fanfare on September 13, 1866, with a production of Lucia de Lammermoor, starring Angela Peralta, the renowned “Mexican Nightingale.”

HOSPICIO CABAÑAS

Behind the long pool/fountain at the east end of Plaza Tapatía stands the domed neoclassic Hospicio Cabañas, the largest and one of the most remarkable colonial buildings in the Americas, designed and financed by Bishop Juan Ruiz de Cabañas; construction was complete in 1810. The purpose of the “Guadalajara House of Charity and Mercy,” as the good bishop originally named it, a home for the sick, helpless, and homeless, was fulfilled for 170 years.

Now it is an art and cultural center and houses some of Jose Clemente Orozco's best Murals like the one painted on the inside of the dome called "El Hombre de Fuego"

RECTORIA DE LA UNIVERSIDAD DE GUADALAJARA

The grand neoclassic edifice was designed in large part by noted architect Rafael Urzúa and erected in 1918. Originally intended as the Jalisco state legislature, it became part of the university during the mid-1930s.

LOS ARCOS

This neo-Roman triumphal arch was erected 1939–1941, on what was, at the time, the country edge of Guadalajara, now it's right smack in the middle of the city....

EX CONVENTO DEL CARMEN

Built as a cloister for men next to the Templo del Carmen erected by the Discalced Carmelite Order between 1687 and 1690. Designed by the Spanish Architect Juan Bautista de Mora. In 1860 the site was bombed for two days by liberal cannons and suffered many damages. In 1861 it became a military facility and the main church was demolished.

The ex-Convento del Carmen is one of the most beautiful places in Guadalajara, even though after almost being destroyed, only part of the main buildings and the chapel remains. It has been remodelled, however, and is definitely worth a visit. Today, the ex-Convento functions as a cultural center. Some of its halls display art exhibitions while others stage plays, recitals and chamber music concerts. Dance performances are held in the main courtyard.

Most of these pictures were taken by Sydney....