Tequila, Jalisco
Encyclopedia
Santiago de Tequila is a 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 sugars and had been used by native peoples here 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 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. Tequila has also been famous for being the prime setting in the successful Televisa
telenovela
Destilando Amor
, starring Angélica Rivera
and Eduardo Yáñez
.
The name “Tequila” is derived from Nahuatl
and means “place of tribute.” The coat of arms of the municipality was officially adopted on 31 December 1983 by the municipal council. It contain the Latin phrase ALMA LAETA NOBILIS, meaning “great 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 Toltecs and the Nahua. However, 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
monks, 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. This 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 of 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 has a population of 26,809, 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 Or Lady of the Conception which dates from 1865.
Notable secular structures include the Quinta Sauza built in the 1830s and the La Perserverancia 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 Perseverancisa 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 Perservancia 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, which 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.
Just10 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 Romo 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, cockfight
s, mariachi
s, fireworks and rides. This festival coincides with the feast of Tequila’s patron saint, Our Lady of the Purisíma Concepción.
A surprising tradition for those not from Tequila is the nightly blessing of the town by the parish priest. At 9pm every night, the priest exits the church and offers a blessing by ringing a bell three times. 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 mescal, 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. 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 begun to cultivate 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 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 Riojeña”, 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.
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 Tequila and surrounding municipalities as well as 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 town and the surrounding areas attract thousands of visitors each year to see the fields, distilleries, Museo Nacional de Tequila (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. The train has 4 cars with a capacity of 68 people and usually requires that tickets be bought a month in advance.
The history and worldwide popularity of the drink has led to the town of Tequila and the vast agave fields surrounding it to be declared a World Heritage Site.
It encompasses 34,658 hectares between the foothills of the Tequila Volcano and the valley of the Rio Grande River, which is covered in fields of blue agave. For over 2,000 years, this plant has been used to make fermented drinks and cloth and since the 16th century has been used to make the distilled liquor with the name of Tequila. Both the drink and the culture associated with making it has become absorbed into Mexican identity. Within these fields are the towns of Tequila, Arenal
, Amatitan and Teuchitlán
with large tequila production facilities. This site contains an inventory of fields, distilleries and factories (active and inactive) as well as “tabernas” (illegal tequila facilities during the Colonial period), the towns and the Teuchitlán archeological sites. Many of the tequila-making facilities are located on large hacienda
s which date back as far as the 18th century. Most distilleries and haciendas are made of brick and adobe, which stucco walls with an ochre
lime-wash, stone arches, quoins
and window frames. Most are decorated with Neoclassical
or Baroque
ornamentation. The production of tequila represents the fusion of the pre-Hispanic tradition of making alcohol with agave with European distilling techniques. The Teuchitlán archeological site is of one of the first cultures here that first produced an agricultural society here.
and Teuchitlan, which also contain important tequila facilities, as well as cultural and archeological attractions. Both also go through the vast blue agave fields that were recently named a World Heritage Site. The Tequila Route was created and is supervised by the Consejo Regulador del Tequila, which regulates the production and authenticity of the liquor produced here. Other attractions on the route include archeological sites, old mansions and opal and obsidian mines. The archeological sites primarily belong to a culture known as the Guachimontones located in the municipalities of Teuchitlan and Magdalena. In a number of the old hacienda/distilleries, visitors are invited to try their hand at some of the aspects of tequila making, such as cutting the spines off the agave plant. Most of these haciendas also have tasting rooms and restaurants. Along the route is the Tequila Volcano.
The Tequila Express is a train for tourists which has been in operation since 1997. On Saturdays and Sundays this train takes passengers through tequila country, accompanies by live mariachi music and bilingual guides to the Hacienda San José del Refugio. Another guided tour is Tequila Adventure, which shuttle people in vans to the distilleries of la Cofradía and Mundo Cuervo.
), and the State of Zacatecas
to the north. All of the neighboring municipalities surrounding Mount Tequila conform the greater region of 'Tequila'. These include the adjacent municipalities of Amatitlán, Magdalena, San Juanito de Escobedo, San Martin de Bolaños
, San Cristóbal de la Barranca
, Hostotipaquillo
and, south of Tequila Volcano
: Teuchtilán and Ahualulco de Mercado
. The original land-subdivision of the region was delineated by the Agave
-growing haciendas that are found throughout (see 'Haciendas of Tequila', below).
After Independence, the state of Jalisco was originally divided into 26 departments, with Tequila being one of the seats of these departments. After modern municipalities were created, Tequila remained a seat, but of the municipality that bears its name. This municipality contains 207 communities with the most populous (outside of the town of Tequila) being El Salvador, San Martín de las Cañas, Santa Teresa and Potrero de la Rivera aside from the municipal seat. The total population of the municipality is 38,534, 73% of which lives in the municipal seat of Tequila.
The municipality is located on rugged terrain with little flat space except in some valleys. The Santiago y Chico River constitutes the low points of the municipality at 700 meters while the high peaks are located in the south. The highest mountain is Tequila Volcano
or Tequila Mountain at 2,900 meters. This as an inactive volcano, not having had an eruption in more than 220,000 years, and dominates the landscape in the center of the municipality. Hiking and other ecotourism is possible here but infrastructure such as roads, security and signs are minimal. The eastern part of the municipality is dominated by the Sierra de los Balcones.
The climate is semi-arid with a dry season in the winter and spring and a rainy season in summer and fall. Temperatures do not vary greatly between summer and winter and average about 23.2C. The higher elevations have pine and oak forest while the lower elevations have mesquite
, nopal
, and other vegetation. The municipality has 28,430 hectares of mostly pine forest in the higher mountain areas. The major rivers of the municipality are the Santiago, El Chico and Bolaños and a large number of small streams.
Most of the municipality’s economy is still based on agriculture, employing about 47% of its people. Despite the very visible growing of the blue agave plant, most acres here are still devoted to corn. Other crops include sorghum
, beans, mangos, oranges, avocados and squash. Livestock includes beef cattle, dairy cattle, pigs, goats, horses, fowl and bees. The making of tequila employs about 25% of the municipality’s population, but brings in the most money. It accounts for almost all the municipality’s industrial base. Tourism, such as that related to tequila and ecotourism sites are a growing part of the economy. One example of ecotourism here is the Balneario La Toma, which is located on very rugged terrain with cliffs, promoting rappelling, paragliding and other similar sports. There is some mining here, mostly of opals, gold and silver.
and La Quinta, California
which are both located in Southern California
's Coachella Valley
. Tequila Council members, business promoters and Rotary Club officials have attended Mexican Independence Day celebrations hosted by the two California
cities.
Another sister city is Jelenia Góra
, Poland
.
Jalisco
Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
about 60 km from the city of Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
. Tequila is best known as being the birthplace of the drink that bears its name, “tequila
Tequila
Tequila is a spirit made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, northwest of Guadalajara, and in the highlands of the western Mexican state of Jalisco....
,” which is made from the blue agave plant, native to this area. The heart of the plant contains sugars and had been used by native peoples here 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 town and the area surrounding it a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
. It was also named a "Pueblo Mágico
Pueblo Mágico
The Programa Pueblos Mágicos is an initiative led by Mexico's Secretariat of Tourism , in conjunction with other federal and state agencies, to promote a series of towns around the country that offer visitors a "magical" experience – by reason of their natural beauty, cultural riches, or...
" (Magical Town) in 2003 by the Mexican federal government. Tequila has also been famous for being the prime setting in the successful Televisa
Televisa
Televisa is a Mexican multimedia conglomerate, the largest mass media company in Latin America and in the Spanish-speaking world. It is a major international entertainment business, with much of its programming airing in the United States on Univision, with which it has an exclusive contract...
telenovela
Telenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
Destilando Amor
Destilando Amor
Destilando Amor is a 2007 Mexican telenovela produced by Televisa and Nicandro Díaz. It stars Angélica Rivera and Eduardo Yáñez as the main protagonists and was set primarily in Tequila, Jalisco...
, starring Angélica Rivera
Angélica Rivera
Angélica Rivera Hurtado is a Mexican telenovela actress, wife of Enrique Peña Nieto.-Early life:Rivera was born to a family of six brothers. One day she found out that actress Verónica Castro was filming a video in the street and she decided to snoop around...
and Eduardo Yáñez
Eduardo Yáñez
Eduardo Yáñez is a Mexican television and film actor.Yáñez was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He lived with his mother and half brothers. He never met his father. Eduardo had a hard and sad childhood alongside his stepfather...
.
The name “Tequila” is derived from Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
and means “place of tribute.” The coat of arms of the municipality was officially adopted on 31 December 1983 by the municipal council. It contain the Latin phrase ALMA LAETA NOBILIS, meaning “great 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.
History
The first peoples to live in this area were the Chichimecas, the OtomíOtomi people
The Otomi people . Smaller Otomi populations exist in the states of Puebla, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Michoacán and Guanajuato. The Otomi language belonging to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family is spoken in many different varieties some of which are not mutually intelligible.One of...
the Toltecs and the Nahua. However, 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
Nueva Galicia
El Nuevo Reino de Galicia or Nueva Galicia was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was named after Galicia in Spain...
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
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
monks, 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. This 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 of 1541, the situation in Nueva Galicia was so serious that the viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza
Antonio de Mendoza
Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, Marquis of Mondéjar, Count of Tendilla , was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from April 17, 1535 to November 25, 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from September 23, 1551 to July 21, 1552...
, arrived from Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. 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
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
.
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
José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa
José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa, 1st Marquis of La Concordia , was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator in America...
, for which he was subsequently promoted to viceroy of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.
Shortly after this came the Mexican War of Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
. 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
Doric
Doric may refer to:* Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode* Doric dialect...
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
Neoclassical sculpture
Neoclassical sculpture was a sculptural style of the 18th and 19th centuries. The neoclassical period was one of the great ages of public sculpture, though its "classical" prototypes were more likely to be Roman copies of Hellenistic sculptures. The neoclassical sculptors paid homage to an idea of...
main altar. Also inside is a statue of Or Lady of the Conception which dates from 1865.
Notable secular structures include the Quinta Sauza built in the 1830s and the La Perserverancia 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 Perseverancisa 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 Perservancia 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, which 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.
Just10 km outside the town of Tequila proper is the Sanctuary of Saint Toribio Romo González
Toribio Romo González
Saint Toribio Romo González was a Mexican martyr who died in the Cristero War.He was born April 16, 1900, in Santa Ana de Guadalupe, Jalostotitlán, Mexico. In 1912 he entered the Auxiliary Seminary in San Juan de los Lagos. He was a playful and happy seminarian who loved to joke. In 1922 he was...
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 Romo was apprehended and shot during the Cristero War
Cristero War
The Cristero War of 1926 to 1929 was an uprising and counter-revolution against the Mexican government in power at that time. The rebellion was set off by the strict enforcement of the anti-clerical provisions of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 and the expansion of further anti-clerical laws...
.
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
Charreada
The charreada or charrería is a competitive event similar to rodeo and was developed from animal husbandry practices used on the haciendas of Old Mexico. The sport has been described as "living history," or as an art form drawn the demands of working life...
events and a parade with floats, cockfight
Cockfight
A cockfight is a blood sport between two roosters , held in a ring called a cockpit. Cockfighting is now illegal throughout all states in the United States, Brazil, Australia and in most of Europe. It is still legal in several U.S. territories....
s, mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
s, fireworks and rides. This festival coincides with the feast of Tequila’s patron saint, Our Lady of the Purisíma Concepción.
A surprising tradition for those not from Tequila is the nightly blessing of the town by the parish priest. At 9pm every night, the priest exits the church and offers a blessing by ringing a bell three times. 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 town and the beverage
The Spanish introduced distillation to turn the native fermented mescal into what is now known as tequila. 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 Riojeña”, 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.
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 Tequila and surrounding municipalities as well as parts of the State of Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
. 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 town and the surrounding areas attract thousands of visitors each year to see the fields, distilleries, Museo Nacional de Tequila (National Museum of Tequila), the Barraca de Tequila and to ride the Tequila Express
Tequila Express
The Tequila Express is a Mexican regional train service that operates from Guadalajara, Jalisco, to the Tequila Herradura distillery at the San José del Refugio Hacienda in the municipality of Amatitán, Jalisco. Amatitán is approximately northwest of Guadalajara and southeast of the town of...
, which is a train that runs from Guadalajara to tequila country. The train has 4 cars with a capacity of 68 people and usually requires that tickets be bought a month in advance.
World Heritage Site
It encompasses 34,658 hectares between the foothills of the Tequila Volcano and the valley of the Rio Grande River, which is covered in fields of blue agave. For over 2,000 years, this plant has been used to make fermented drinks and cloth and since the 16th century has been used to make the distilled liquor with the name of Tequila. Both the drink and the culture associated with making it has become absorbed into Mexican identity. Within these fields are the towns of Tequila, Arenal
El Arenal, Jalisco
El Arenal is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 181.81 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 13,574....
, Amatitan and Teuchitlán
Teuchitlán
Teuchitlán is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 285.53 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 8,361.Tour's & TravelVisit Our Official Web Site:...
with large tequila production facilities. This site contains an inventory of fields, distilleries and factories (active and inactive) as well as “tabernas” (illegal tequila facilities during the Colonial period), the towns and the Teuchitlán archeological sites. Many of the tequila-making facilities are located on large hacienda
Hacienda
Hacienda is a Spanish word for an estate. Some haciendas were plantations, mines, or even business factories. Many haciendas combined these productive activities...
s which date back as far as the 18th century. Most distilleries and haciendas are made of brick and adobe, which stucco walls with an ochre
Ochre
Ochre is the term for both a golden-yellow or light yellow brown color and for a form of earth pigment which produces the color. The pigment can also be used to create a reddish tint known as "red ochre". The more rarely used terms "purple ochre" and "brown ochre" also exist for variant hues...
lime-wash, stone arches, quoins
Quoin (architecture)
Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...
and window frames. Most are decorated with Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
or Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
ornamentation. The production of tequila represents the fusion of the pre-Hispanic tradition of making alcohol with agave with European distilling techniques. The Teuchitlán archeological site is of one of the first cultures here that first produced an agricultural society here.
Tequila tourism
The Tequila Route (Ruta de Tequila) and the Tequila Express were created with the aim of promoting the tourism of Tequila into the neighboring municipalities of El Arenal, Amatitan, MagdalenaMagdalena, Jalisco
Magdalena is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 445.36 km². It is owned by a wealthy family The Banuelos. They have been owing these lands for the past 30 years....
and Teuchitlan, which also contain important tequila facilities, as well as cultural and archeological attractions. Both also go through the vast blue agave fields that were recently named a World Heritage Site. The Tequila Route was created and is supervised by the Consejo Regulador del Tequila, which regulates the production and authenticity of the liquor produced here. Other attractions on the route include archeological sites, old mansions and opal and obsidian mines. The archeological sites primarily belong to a culture known as the Guachimontones located in the municipalities of Teuchitlan and Magdalena. In a number of the old hacienda/distilleries, visitors are invited to try their hand at some of the aspects of tequila making, such as cutting the spines off the agave plant. Most of these haciendas also have tasting rooms and restaurants. Along the route is the Tequila Volcano.
The Tequila Express is a train for tourists which has been in operation since 1997. On Saturdays and Sundays this train takes passengers through tequila country, accompanies by live mariachi music and bilingual guides to the Hacienda San José del Refugio. Another guided tour is Tequila Adventure, which shuttle people in vans to the distilleries of la Cofradía and Mundo Cuervo.
The municipality
Tequila is one of the 124 municipalities of Jalisco, located just west of the center of the state. Its territory extends for 1689.11km2, with elevations that vary between 700 and 2,900 meters above sea level. The municipality borders with the main metropolitan region of Guadalajara to the east (ZapopanZapopan
Zapopan is a city and municipality located in the Mexican state of Jalisco, which is part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. It is best known as being the home of the Virgin of Zapopan, an image of the Virgin Mary which was made in the 16th century. This image has been credited with a number of...
), and the State of Zacatecas
Zacatecas
Zacatecas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas....
to the north. All of the neighboring municipalities surrounding Mount Tequila conform the greater region of 'Tequila'. These include the adjacent municipalities of Amatitlán, Magdalena, San Juanito de Escobedo, San Martin de Bolaños
San Martín de Bolaños
San Martín de Bolaños is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 991.99 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 3,205....
, San Cristóbal de la Barranca
San Cristobal de la Barranca
San Cristóbal de la Barranca is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 636.93 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 3,207....
, Hostotipaquillo
Hostotipaquillo
Hostotipaquillo is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 697.94 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 8,228....
and, south of Tequila Volcano
Tequila Volcano
The Tequila Volcano, or Volcán de Tequila is a volcano located near Tequila, Jalisco, in Mexico.This volcano is not dangerous to its nearby communities, which are famous for producing the alcoholic beverage, tequila. The volcano rises to a height of 3,000 meters, or 10,000 feet, above...
: Teuchtilán and Ahualulco de Mercado
Ahualulco de Mercado
Ahualulco de Mercado is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 134.22 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 21,465....
. The original land-subdivision of the region was delineated by the Agave
Agave
Agave is a genus of monocots. The plants are perennial, but each rosette flowers once and then dies ; they are commonly known as the century plant....
-growing haciendas that are found throughout (see 'Haciendas of Tequila', below).
After Independence, the state of Jalisco was originally divided into 26 departments, with Tequila being one of the seats of these departments. After modern municipalities were created, Tequila remained a seat, but of the municipality that bears its name. This municipality contains 207 communities with the most populous (outside of the town of Tequila) being El Salvador, San Martín de las Cañas, Santa Teresa and Potrero de la Rivera aside from the municipal seat. The total population of the municipality is 38,534, 73% of which lives in the municipal seat of Tequila.
The municipality is located on rugged terrain with little flat space except in some valleys. The Santiago y Chico River constitutes the low points of the municipality at 700 meters while the high peaks are located in the south. The highest mountain is Tequila Volcano
Tequila Volcano
The Tequila Volcano, or Volcán de Tequila is a volcano located near Tequila, Jalisco, in Mexico.This volcano is not dangerous to its nearby communities, which are famous for producing the alcoholic beverage, tequila. The volcano rises to a height of 3,000 meters, or 10,000 feet, above...
or Tequila Mountain at 2,900 meters. This as an inactive volcano, not having had an eruption in more than 220,000 years, and dominates the landscape in the center of the municipality. Hiking and other ecotourism is possible here but infrastructure such as roads, security and signs are minimal. The eastern part of the municipality is dominated by the Sierra de los Balcones.
The climate is semi-arid with a dry season in the winter and spring and a rainy season in summer and fall. Temperatures do not vary greatly between summer and winter and average about 23.2C. The higher elevations have pine and oak forest while the lower elevations have mesquite
Mesquite
Mesquite is a leguminous plant of the Prosopis genus found in northern Mexico through the Sonoran Desert and Chihuahuan Deserts, and up into the Southwestern United States as far north as southern Kansas, west to the Colorado Desert in California,and east to the eastern fifth of Texas, where...
, nopal
Nopal
Nopales are a vegetable made from the young cladode segments of prickly pear, carefully peeled to remove the spines. These fleshy pads are flat and about hand-sized. They can be purple or green...
, and other vegetation. The municipality has 28,430 hectares of mostly pine forest in the higher mountain areas. The major rivers of the municipality are the Santiago, El Chico and Bolaños and a large number of small streams.
Most of the municipality’s economy is still based on agriculture, employing about 47% of its people. Despite the very visible growing of the blue agave plant, most acres here are still devoted to corn. Other crops include sorghum
Sorghum
Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
, beans, mangos, oranges, avocados and squash. Livestock includes beef cattle, dairy cattle, pigs, goats, horses, fowl and bees. The making of tequila employs about 25% of the municipality’s population, but brings in the most money. It accounts for almost all the municipality’s industrial base. Tourism, such as that related to tequila and ecotourism sites are a growing part of the economy. One example of ecotourism here is the Balneario La Toma, which is located on very rugged terrain with cliffs, promoting rappelling, paragliding and other similar sports. There is some mining here, mostly of opals, gold and silver.
Sister cities
Tequila maintains sister city relations with Cathedral City, CaliforniaCathedral City, California
Cathedral City is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 51,200 at the 2010 census. Sandwiched between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, it is one of the cities in the Coachella Valley of southern California...
and La Quinta, California
La Quinta, California
La Quinta is a resort city in Riverside County, California, USA, specifically in the Coachella Valley between Indian Wells and Indio. The population was 37,467 at the 2010 census, up from 23,694 at the 2000 census. The Robb Report credits La Quinta as the nation's leading golf destination...
which are both located in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
's Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley
Coachella Valley is a large valley landform in Southern California. The valley extends for approximately 45 miles in Riverside County southeast from the San Bernardino Mountains to the saltwater Salton Sea, the largest lake in California...
. Tequila Council members, business promoters and Rotary Club officials have attended Mexican Independence Day celebrations hosted by the two California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
cities.
Another sister city is Jelenia Góra
Jelenia Góra
----Jelenia Góra is a city in Lower Silesia, south-western Poland. The name of the city means "deer mountain" in Polish, Czech and German. It is close to the Krkonoše mountain range running along the Polish-Czech border – ski resorts such as Karpacz and Szklarska Poręba can be found...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
External links
- http://www.tequilajalisco.gob.mx/