Zapopan, Mexico
| Zapopan | |||
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| City & Municipality | |||
Municipal Palace of Zapopan (City Hall)
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.png) Location of the municipality in Jalisco |
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 Zapopan
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| Coordinates: 20°43′13″N 103°23′31″W / 20.72028°N 103.39194°W | |||
| Country |
 Mexico
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| State | Jalisco | ||
| Founded | 1541 | ||
| Municipal Status | 1825 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Municipal President | Pablo Lemus | ||
| Area | |||
| • Municipality | 893.15 km2 (344.85 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation (of seat) | 1,571 m (5,154 ft) | ||
| Population (2005) Municipality | |||
| • Municipality | 1,155,790 | ||
| • Seat | 1,026,492 | ||
| • Seat density | 1,035/km2 (2,680/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CST (UTC−6) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC−5) | ||
| Postal code (of seat) | 45010 | ||
| Area code(s) | 33 | ||
| Demonym | Zapopano | ||
| Website | (in Spanish) Municipal official site | ||
Zapopan (Spanish pronunciation: [saˈpopan]) is a city and municipality located in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, the population of Zapopan city proper makes it the second largest city in the state, very close behind the population of Guadalajara proper. 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 miracles and has been recognized by popes and even visited by Pope John Paul II. The municipality is also the home of the Centro Cultural Universitario, which contains one of the most important concert venues in Latin America and is the home of the new stadium for the C.D. Guadalajara.
The name Zapopan comes from the Nahuatl word “tzapotl” which means among sapote trees and the word “pan” which means among under. It also has the nickname of “Villa Exmaicera” (ex-corn village), as it used to be a major producer of corn. Its seal was designed by José Trinidad Laris in 1941 for the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding.
From 1160 to 1325 a large number of Zapotec, Nahua and Maya families migrated into this area from the south, with many settling in the Profundo Arroyo area. These first settlers eventually mixed among themselves and with newcomers such as Aztecs and eventually were known as Tecos. Many small shrines called “cues” were built here, mostly to worship the sun, although the primary deity was a god-child called Teopiltzintli or the corn god.
By the time the Spanish arrived Tzapopan was a fairly large settlement, but it was in decline due to wars with various surrounding nomadic tribes. It was subject to the dominion of Atemajac, also called Tlatoanazgo, which itself was subject to the Hueytlatoanazgo of Tonalá.
In 1530, this area was subdued by Nuño de Guzmán, but the establishment of a Spanish settlement of Zapopan did not happen until 1541 due to the Mixtón War. In that year Francisco de Bobadilla, encomendero of Tlatltenango moved 130 Indians from his lands to repopulate Zapopan. Accompanying them was an image of Our Lady of the Conception, which had traveled to areas like Zacatecas as part of evangelization efforts. This statue would eventually take on the name of Our Lady of Zapopan. The sanctuary for this image was begun in 1689.
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Wikipedia