Tequila

History

Before the Spanish arrived, the main settlement in this area was not on the present site but at a place called Teochtinchán. When Cristóbal de Oñate brought the region into Nueva Galicia in 1530, the local people fortified their hill but soon chose to surrender peacefully. That same year Franciscans under Fray Juan Calero founded Santiago de Tequila, moving families down from the mountain. The peace did not last: in the 1541 uprising across Nueva Galicia, Calero was killed when he went up the hill to calm the rebels.

People here had long fermented the heart of the agave. In 1600 Pedro Sánchez de Tagle set up the first distillery and began planting agave on a large scale, the start of the industry that defines the town.

After independence, Tequila was named the seat of one of Jalisco's original departments in 1824 and received the title of villa. It became a city in 1874, in recognition of residents who had fought off the forces of Manuel Lozada the year before. Landmarks from that century include the Quinta Sauza and the La Perseverancia distillery, built in 1873.