Tecolotlán

Tecolotlán is the seat of its municipality in the Sierra de Amula region of west-central Jalisco, at 1,285 metres. The town had 9,668 people in 2020 and the municipality 16,603. The name comes from Nahuatl tecolotl, owl, and tlan, place: "where owls abound".

West of town rises Cerro del Picacho, where tradition and a few remains place the first settlement, called Los Tecolotes. The area belonged to the province of Tenamaxtlán; Francisco Cortés de San Buenaventura conquered it in 1524 and is credited with founding the town, which got its own council on April 8, 1844. Justino Merino, born here, raised the Libres de Tecolotlán battalion against the French Intervention: in November 1866, with some 300 men, he met Berthelin's column out of Colima at El Guayabo, and after two hours of fighting Berthelin and his officers were dead.

The climate is semi-dry, averaging 23 °C, with rain in June and July. The higher ground carries pine, oak and fir, with peach, guava and pingüica among the fruit trees. Water comes from the Ferrería river, springs such as La Ciénaga and Agua Caliente, and to the south the San Pedro (El Pochote) dam at San Buenaventura.