Quitupan is a town and municipality located in the southeastern region of the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

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 ...

. The name Quitupan comes from the word "''Quitoa''" or "''Quitla''", which means "''place where declarations or treaties come from''" or "''place that is located above''".

History

The formal indigenous foundation of the town precisely coincides with the establishment of a peace treaty between '' tarascos'' (Purépechas) and aboriginals, which occurred ten years before the arrival of the conqueror

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

. A census taken in 1580 noted 30 integrated families. The town was conquered by Alonso de Avalos, who nevertheless recognized the chieftainship of the original inhabitants. In 1522, Cortés dispatched one of his generals,

Cristóbal de Olid Cristóbal de Olid (; 1487–1524) was a Spanish adventurer, conquistador and rebel who played a part in the conquest of the Aztec Empire and present-day Honduras. Born in Baeza, Olid grew up in the household of the governor of Cuba, Diego V ...

to conquer Quitupan and surrounding areas. In 1530,

Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán ( Spanish) or ( Catalan) is a masculine given name of Latin origin (, , , and so on). Its Portuguese form is . Its patronymic is (). Already in the Middle Ages the name was being confused with the similar but distinct name Munio. The meaning ...

arrived to conduct a census of the native inhabitants and to impose a new order. The Evangelization of Quitupan was led by the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

– in 1530, Friar Martin de Jesus began to preach, joined in 1532 by Friars

Juan de Padilla Juan de Padilla, OFM (1500–1542) was a Spanish Catholic priest and missionary who spent much of his life exploring North America with Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. He was killed in what would become Kansas by Native Americans in 1542 ...

and Miguel de Bologna. Viceroy

Antonio de Mendoza Antonio de Mendoza (1495 – 21 July 1552) was a Spanish colonial administrator who was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from 14 November 1535 to 25 November 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from 23 September 1551, until his d ...

then visited the area, under his appointment by

King Charles I of Spain Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) ...

to pacify the various indigenous people of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

and to unify the territory, which was partially divided among competing conquistadors. During the second half of the century, the region was beset by various armed confrontations between conservatives and liberals. Other historical landmarks include the Franciscan Intervention, the revolution of 1920 and the Guerra Cristera. On October 28, 1870 Quitupan was official recognized as a municipality of the state of Jalisco. Its first president was Francisco Lorenzo Gonzalez.

Geography

Quitupan is located in the southeast region of the state of Jalisco. The Northern latitudes measures 19° 39' 20" to 19°58’ 10”, the Western longitude measures 102° 45’ to 103° 01’. It is 1,593 meters above sea level. More than half of its surface (55%) is composed of rugged mountainous terrain, with altitudes reaching to 2,100 meters above sea level. 25% the land forms part of the mountain range known as

Mazamitla Mazamitla () is a town and municipality of the Mexican state of Jalisco. It is located 124 km south of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara in the Southeast Region and is a popular resort destination for travelers from Guadalajara and nearby urb ...

. Foothills cover another quarter of the surface (25%) with altitudes ranging from 1650 to 1800 meters. The rest of it surface (20%) are plains that measure in altitude of 1550 to 1650 meters.

Climate

The climate is semi-arid. Winters and springs are dry and semi warm with little temperature change. The annual average temperature is 19 °C with a maximum of 26.71 °C. The rainy season begins in June and lasts until August with average precipitation of 807.3 millimeters.

Lakes and lagoons

The Guadalupe lagoon is also known as El Quiringual because three quarters of the lagoon is in inhabited by the town Quiringual. Nonetheless, the town El Quiringual has approximately 50 people living in it.

References

{{Jalisco Municipalities of Jalisco