San Juan de Los Lagos - History

History

For much of the pre Hispanic period, the Los Altos area was inhabited by groups of Tecuexe and Nahuas who formed small independent dominions in the 12th century. Soon after, these dominions would fall under the rule of a single Tecuexe state, with its capital at Metzquititlán.

The first Spanish conquistador in the area was Pedro Almíndez Chirino, sent from Cuitzeo by Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán . It was placed firmly into Spanish control by Cristóbal de Oñate after he conquered the nearby Caxcans in Teocaltiche. The Mixtón Rebellion in the Guadalajara area prompted measures to populate and fortify this area under the supervision of the Franciscans . San Juan’s origins date to 1542, when the indigenous population of a village called San Gaspar was sent here, naming the new village San Juan Bautista de Mezquititlán. However by the end of the 16th century, the town was still little more than a group of small houses, with a small hermitage. This hermitage, built by Friar Miguel de Bolonia, was dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. This structure was the first home of a very small image of the Virgin Mary, believed to have been brought to the area from Michoacán either by Bolonia or by Friar Antonio de Segovia. Over time, moths damaged the statue and it was packed away in a corner of the sacristy. It remained there until 1632 when it was part of the first major miracle ascribed to it. After this, the image was taken to Guadalajara to be restored, and it was then returned to San Juan. Pilgrimages soon began to the miraculous image, with pilgrims leaving valuable offerings, which permitted the building of larger and grander churches for the image. The first chapel to the image was built in 1638, which is now the Chapel of the First Miracle.

From the 1542 to 1623, San Juan had been an indigenous community. Colonial authorities decided to “Hispanicize” the area, bringing in a large number of Spanish and mestizos from neighboring areas, mostly through land grants. Many of these new residents came from an area called Santa María de los Lagos which is now Lagos de Moreno. This prompted the changing of the town’s name to San Juan de los Lagos. Shortly after this influx of newcomers, the number of indigenous in the town dropped to less than one quarter.

During the colonial era, the San Juan’s importance grew as a pilgrimage center because of the miracles ascribed to the Virgin Mary image. This influx of pilgrims also spurred the town’s development as a regional commercial center, as it provided a large concentration of potential customers. This led to an annual fair which coincided with the busiest pilgrimage season, the time around Candlemas. This economic impact became evident relatively early in the colonial period.

San Juan had a number of advantages that led to its growing importance during the colonial period. First, there was a relative dearth of native pilgrimage sites in northern Mexico, as most sites are churches dedicated to Virgin and Christ images physically located in other parts of the country. This Virgin, along with the one in Zapopan, were considered “frontier Virgins.” Another important factor is that San Juan lies on the border between northern and central Mexico in an area now known as the Los Altos de Jalisco region and as such was an area frequently traveled through. The area lies where a number of roads connecting mining and cattle raising areas intersect. The royal road which linked Tampico, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas passed through here, intersecting with that connecting Mexico City and Santa Fé . This has made it relatively easy to access and prompted authorities to build and maintain roads and bridges in the area, including a main highway connecting it to Guadalajara in 1717. The annual fair drew merchants from Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, San Juan del Río, Valle de Santiago, Celaya, Guadalajara, Valladolid, Aguascalientes and Zacatecas, many to sell merchandise imported through the ports of Veracruz or Acapulco .

The annual fair and other commercial activity steadily grew in the 17th and 18th century until the annual fair was formally recognized by royal decree in Spain in 1797. However, the annual fair and the area’s economic importance declined in the early 19th century, in part due to suppression by colonial authorities because of the insurgent tendencies of the area. Royalist troops pursuing Miguel Hidalgo passed through the area in 1811. Although the area did recover economically after the War of Independence, it did not have the same relative value as it did before.

In 1824, the area was reorganized politically and the town gained its status as a municipal seat. It was named a city again in 1869.

Various clashes during the Cristero War occurred in the area between 1926 and 1929.

The diocese of San Juan was erected in 1972 as part of the archdiocese of Guadalajara.

The current seal was authorized by the municipality in 1987, designed by Gabriel Camarena Gutiérrez de Laris.

In 1990, Pope John Paul II came as a pilgrim and offered mass to a crowd of six million. Most people (about a 73%) of its population are of French, Spanish, or other European bloods.