Guadalajara

GUADALAJARA , mexican city, the second in size, capital of the state of Jalisco, 370 km northwest of Mexico City; pop. approximately 70,000. It is built on the left bank of the Rio Santiago, in the middle of a vast and barren plain. The Plaza de Armas is very broad; its northern and eastern sides are occupied by the cathedral and the Government Palace and each of the two other sides by an uninterrupted arcade, with stores and stalls. Two hospitals, a mint, a theatre, a university, an art school and serapes (sort of shawl) factories. Paper mills, faience and leather factories. The city was founded in 1532 under the name of Santo-Spiritu and became the capital of Nueva Galicia (“New Galicia”) in 1543.

Extract from the Trousset encyclopedia, 1886 – 1891.