Degollado () is a small town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

located in the Mexican state of

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

, in the cultural region of Ciénega, just south of Los Altos. The town is mainly rural in nature, but the municipality encompasses several concentrated residential areas, such as Huascato, Los Ranchitos, La Vibora, Buenos Aires, Las Limas, Altamira, La Chancla and El Corral de Piedra. The town is named after Mexican general Santos Degollado. A statue of him is in the Jardin de Niños which was made from coins from the townspeople during the early 1960s.

History

The town dates back to the 19th century to land east of Ayotlán known as Los Encinos. A

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

was erected and blessed by the priest of Ayotlán Clemente Pérez in 1856, whose patron saint is San Ignacio de Loyola. For this reason, the growing village was given the name of San Ignacio de Morelos in 1857, also commonly referred to as San Ignacio de los Encinos. The town was renamed after general Santos Degollado in 1861. On December 24, 1917, the town was under siege by bandit leader J. Inés García Chávez. Degollado is also one of the places in highlands of Jalisco where the

Cristero War The Cristero War (), also known as the Cristero Rebellion or , was a widespread struggle in central and western Mexico from 3 August 1926 to 21 June 1929 in response to the implementation of secularism, secularist and anti-clericalism, anticler ...

took place during the 1920s.

Arts and culture

The holy patroness of Degollado is

Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe (), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (), is a Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with four Marian apparitions to Juan Diego and one to his uncle, Juan Bernardino reported in December 1531, when t ...

and is celebrated in the town center on December 12. Degollado is famous for its ''cantera'' ( freestone masonry). One of the best selling products are stone images of the

Virgin of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe (), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with four Marian apparitions to Juan Diego and one to his uncle, J ...

and sculptures, such as fountains, animals, and columns. The town is known for

tequila Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands (''Los Altos (Jal ...

production, with much of the surrounding farmland cultivated for the

blue agave ''Agave tequilana'', commonly called blue Weber agave () or tequila agave, is an agave plant that is an important economic product of Jalisco state of Mexico, due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila. The high production of agavins (bran ...

plant. In July 2019, the ''Iowa Organization of Professional Fire Chiefs'' donated US $90,000 (MXN $171,000) worth of firefighting equipment to the Degollado Fire Department.

References

{{Jalisco Municipalities of Jalisco Populated places established in 1848