Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes Mexico
Photography by Bill Bell
Aguascalientes was founded on 22 October 1575 by Juan de
Montoro as a postal service rest stop between the city of Zacatecas and Mexico
City. Although its founders did not envision it becoming a major city, it became
the capital of the newly formed state of the same name when its territory was
split off from the adjacent state of Zacatecas in 1835. When the s
tate
separated from Zacatecas, Aguascalientes raced ahead in its development, while
the state of Zacatecas remained behind in comparison.
Aguascalientes was born out of four original neighborhoods. Guadalupe was where
most travelers stayed on their way to the Mexico City, and has some of the most
beautiful cemeteries in Mexico. Triana, named after a neighborhood in Seville,
has the most Spanish influence in its architecture, and is the oldest
neighborhood in the city. It is home to the Jose Guadalupe Posada museum and the
magnificent Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. La Salud was intended to be a great
conventual complex, but it was never completed; only the church, cemetery and
square remain lined in colonial style stone streets. The San Marcos neighborhood
is where the fabled San Marcos Fair has been celebrated for hundreds of years,
and is notable for its neoclassical garden and baroque church.







