Zapopan () is a city and municipality located in the Mexican state of Jalisco. It is part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. Zapopan is the most populous municipality in the state of Jalisco.

Zapopan is notable for the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan, which houses a 16th-century image of the Virgin Mary. The statue has been recognized by various popes and was visited by Pope John Paul II. The municipality is also home to the Centro Cultural Universitario as well as the Estadio Akron, C.D. Guadalajara's official stadium.

The name Zapopan means "among the sapote trees". It derives from the Nahuatl word tzapotl "sapote" with the addition of the locative suffix -pan. The municipal seal, designed by José Trinidad Laris in 1941, commemorates the 400th anniversary of Zapopan's founding. Accompanying them was a statue of the Virgin Mary. The statue had previously traveled to areas such Zacatecas as part of evangelization efforts. It would eventually take on the name of "Our Lady of Zapopan," and a sanctuary for the statue began construction in 1689.

Friar Antonio de Segovia placed the image at Zapopan, which served as a common religious site for local leaders, following colonial practices of spiritual conquest. The choice of location was not based on population size.

In conclusion, Zapopan was before the conquest a center of worship, and continued to be so after that, as a center of veneration of a Christian image. Subsequently, a population emerged, with Indians owned by Francisco de Bobadilla, encomendero of the region of Tlaltenango, not of Xalostotitlán, around 1570.

The aforementioned Francisco de Bobadilla is a descendant of Pedro de Bobadilla, who belonged to the hosts of Nuño de Guzmán during the conquest; Peter Gerard has conducted the most comprehensive study on the institution of the encomienda in the 17th century in Mexico and identifies a Pedro de Bobadilla as encomendero of the Tlaltenango region based in Tepechitlán around 1608.

19th Century

thumb|left|alt=Basílica de Zapopan.|Basílica de Zapopan

On 21 June 1823, after the brief and failed imperial takeover by the newly independent viceroyalty of New Spain, the territory of the former province of Guadalajara was proclaimed as the Free State of Jalisco, the first of those who would make up the Federal Republic. The newly established state of Jalisco changed the political division of territory of its jurisdiction—which had been used since the Bourbon reforms—into departments, which in turn were subject to a larger unit known as a Canton. Each Canton was administered by a political chief who depended, in turn, on the Governor of the State. It concentrated political, military and fiscal authority.

On 27 March 1824, under the Political Division Plan of the State of Jalisco, Zapopan was designated a state department, with the town of Zapopan serving as its administrative center and formally recognized as a villa. On November 18 of the same year, once the Political Constitution of the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco was promulgated, Zapopan was ratified as a department and attached to the first Canton of the State, with the head office in Guadalajara.The Villa de Zapopan was located (and is located) to the northwest of the city of Guadalajara, communicated with it by two paths: the first of them ran to the south-east of Zapopan, crossed the Colomos stream and entered the west part of Guadalajara; the second exited to the east of Zapopan, passing through Zoquipan and Atemajac and then entering through the northern part of Guadalajara through the neighborhood of Mezquitán.

In 1857, with the liberal republicans in power, Jalisco is a state and Zapopan a department attached to the first Canton of Jalisco. At this time, the main populations besides Zapopan were: Tesistan, which is located north-west of the head; Santa Ana Tepetitlán, located south of the headwaters; Atemajac east of the Villa; San Cristobal, northwest. Other locations included San Juan de Ocotán, to the southwest; Jocotán, south; Nextipac, to the west; Zoquipan, to the east; Sale of the Shipyard, southwest; and San Esteban and Huaxtla located northeast above the Oblate Canyon.

A state territorial reform on 6 April 1837 incorporated Zapopan into the Guadalajara District. In 1846, a subsequent reorganization reinstated Zapopan as a department within the First Canton of Jalisco, with Guadalajara as its head. This administrative structure remained largely unchanged until 1914, when municipalities became the primary territorial units of Mexico. The 1917 Political Constitution of Jalisco established Zapopan as a free municipality.

The status of Zapopan as a municipal seat remained until 7 December 1994, when state decree 14358 elevated it from a villa to a ciudad (city).

City

Basilica of Zapopan and Virgin of Zapopan

alt=statue, Sacred Heart of Jesus.jpg|thumb|Statue of Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Virgin of Zapopan is an image of Our Lady of the Conception which was made in Michoacán by native artisans in the early 16th century.

Construction of the Basilica of Zapopan began in 1689. It has been modified and expanded since then. In front of the structure is a large atrium. The atrium contains bronze statues of Antonio de Segovia, who donated the image of the Virgin in the 16th century and one of Pope John Paul II, with a child dressed as a charro, who represents Jalisco.

The Neoclassical style Temple of San Pedro Apóstol was finished at the end of the 19th century. The atrium has a balustrade, and contains two large crosses with reliefs carved on them. The facade of the church is made of quarried stone with buttresses that flank the portal and side walls. Inside is a sculpture of Saint Peter, done by J. Cruz de la Mora in 1931, who was a native of Zapopan. The church also contains a painting from the 17th century done by Juan Correa called "The Baptism of Jesus."

thumb|Zapopan Art Museum

Other cultural venues in the city include:

  • Galerías Theater, inaugurated in 1991 and the site of modern musicals, concerts, cultural festivals, and conventions.
  • Museo de Arte de Zapopan (Zapopan Art Museum) presents permanent and temporary exhibitions as well as workshops. It is located in front of the Plaza Cívica.

Municipality

As municipal seat, the city of Zapopan is the local government for approximately 750 other communities, called localities, which together form a territory of .

About three-quarters of the municipality's land is used for agriculture and livestock. About fifteen percent is forested and the remaining is dedicated to the city of Zapopan.

The La Mojonera Ranch is the site of the confrontation between government forces under General Ramón Corona and rebels led by Manuel Lozada "El Tigre de Alicia" on 28 January 1873. The event is called the Battle of La Mojonera.

Primary and secondary schools

Schools include:

  • Colegio Alemán de Guadalajara, a German international school
  • Lycée Français de Guadalajara, a French international school
  • Instituto de Ciencias, a Jesuit Catholic private school
  • Instituto Miguel Ángel de Occidente
  • Colegio Cervantes, run by Marist Brothers, private Catholic school

Weekend supplementary education

The Colegio Japones de Guadalajara A.C. , a part-time Japanese school, is at Secundaria y Preparatoria Femenil Colinas de San Javier in Zapopan. It provides lessons in the afternoon.

Coat of arms

The Coat of arms of Zapopan is the emblem that represents the municipality, which is used by the municipal government of Zapopan as a seal in all its official documents. The shield also carries historical value for the municipality as it represents a tree of Zapote, from which the town took its name.

The coat presents the shape of the semicircular or semicircular Spanish Coat of Arms, and is fitted by a blue edge. It contains, in a sinople (green) background and a gold field, a tree that is also made of sinople and fruity with seven cherimoyas or gold zapotes; to its reclining trunk a spear pole with a flag of gules and behind, a dog in a silver contoured jump; instead of a simple gules cross, accompanied by a semicircular silver badge with the nickname of sinople: HOC SIGNUM VINCIT (This Sign Shall Win).

Culture

Since Zapopan is part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, and due to the great cultural movement that the city of Guadalajara currently lives, the municipality has a great wealth in terms of culture, because it has a large list of events and cultural expressions, all this supported by many public and private institutions that operate in and around the municipality, especially the government and the University of Guadalajara.

In the municipality a wide variety of festivities with various themes are carried out, such as Zapopum! And the October Parties, in addition to many festivals held in the municipality of Guadalajara that greatly influence the life of the zapopanos. Zapopan contains numerous historical and cultural sites distributed throughout its territory, including colonial-era religious and civil buildings in the municipal seat, whose architectural styles represent the ethnic diversity of the municipality.

Museums and galleries

thumb|left|The Trompo Mágico Museum

As part of the conurbation of the City of Guadalajara, Zapopan is a municipality with a very wide cultural infrastructure in terms of museums. One of the main museums of the municipality is the Zapopan Art Museum (MAZ), museum and cultural center, which seeks to disseminate the best expressions of artistic activities and exhibitions in its various manifestations. It has three exhibition halls and a multidisciplinary forum that will host contemporary proposals for plastic, music, dance, theater and audiovisual media.

The Trompo Mágico is an interactive museum catered to children, offering exhibits and activities on various topics related to art, science, civics, among others. The Garden of Art is an exhibition and sale of outdoor art, which takes place every Sunday at the Glorieta Chapalita. The Mexican Air Force Air College has a historic gallery of the Mexican Air Force, Mexican expeditionary air force hall and aircraft model room. The Benito Albarrán Hunting Museum is a house in the Sudan style and has kept a taxidermy collection for 31 years of animals hunted by Don Benito Albarrán from three separate regions: The Americas, Eurasia and Africa, as well as 270 pieces depicting the huntings of over 110 different species presented in dioramas.

The Huichol Wixárica Museum of Art provides a permanent exhibition of handicrafts by the Huichol people, including textiles, beaded items, carved masks, and photographs depicting daily life. The Museum of the Virgin of Zapopan presents a collection of mantles of silver and gold threads, offerings made to the Virgin as a token of gratitude for some miracle, ancient paintings, niches in which the image was transported and a collection of various items used in past centuries for decoration.

The box museum in Zapopan Palace of Culture and Communication

Plastic arts

The municipality has large paintings, among which "The Baptism of Jesus" carried out in the 17th century by Juan Correa, the mural of "The History of the Villa and the Mexican Revolution" painted in 1980 by Ricardo Peña is in the Municipal Center of Culture, where there are also 23 other murals made by painting students. In the municipal palace you can admire a mural made in 1970 by Guillermo Chavez Vega, a Tapatio painter, where scenes from the French, Industrial, English, Mexican and Socialist revolutions are captured.

Gastronomy

Like the rest of Mexico, there are multiple homemade fresh foods sold in the street based on corn such as pozole, tamales and atole. As in the municipality of Guadalajara, some typical dishes such as torta ahogada and esquites, cooked corn kernels that are served in a glass stand out and are accompanied, according to taste, ingredients such as lemon, salt, chili powder, cream and cheese, among others. There are traditional sweets prepared with coconut as alfajor and cocadas, and a variety of sweets prepared with milk.

Archaeological zones

Zapopan has three important archeological zones: Ixtépete, an archaeological zone consisting of a pyramidal structure of Teotihuacan influence built from the 5th to 10th century, long, wide and a height of around ; El Grillo, which is located north of the Atemajac Valley next to a stream that is currently dry, consisting of fourteen shaft tombs; and the area of La Coronilla, located in the area known as The Experience.

Sports

thumb|The [[Estadio Akron football stadium]]

Many sports are practiced in Zapopan due to the existing urban infrastructure. The Municipal Sports Council (COMUDE) of Zapopan is responsible for promoting physical activity, sport and social recreation, as well as trying to promote the use of sports units in the municipality. The municipality has about 54 sports units for classes, training, and games.

The municipality has been and will host various sporting events of national and international size. In October 2011, Zapopan hosted some of the competitions of the Pan American Games of 2011 held in Guadalajara.

For these competitions the track of the Estadio Panamericano were approved by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 2011, with the idea that it was used by both athletes and the baseball team of the Charros de Jalisco, but in 2015, the head of CODE Jalisco, Andre Marx Miranda, reported that during that year it would only be used by the baseball team. Although it should be expected that after this year it will be reconsidered as originally approved.

The city is home to the Estadio Tres de Marzo, which is the home stadium of Tecos FC, a professional football club playing in the third division in Mexican football (Liga Premier). In addition to this, the Chivas de Guadalajara have the Estadio Chivas which was inaugurated in July 2010 and has witnessed important events such as: the final of Pan American Football: Mexico vs Argentina and Clausura of the Pan American Games Guadalajara 2011, Final of the Copa Libertadores Chivas de Guadalajara vs International Porto Alegre one-way game. and several concerts.

Via RecreActiva

The Vía RecreActiva in the Municipality of Zapopan, is a social program in which road spaces are enabled for mass use for recreational and recreational purposes by people of all ages. It operates on Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. During said schedule, the circulation of motor vehicles is restricted along established routes, allowing only pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles to pass through.

There are currently three routes in Zapopan:

  • 'ROUTE 1: South Extension () Avenida de las Rosas (López Mateos) -Tepeyac-Abogados-Beethoven-Independencia (Metropolitan Park).
  • 'ROUTE 2: South Extension () Labna (Tepeyac) -Amado Nervo-Pegaso-Sagittarius-Galileo Galilei-Mariano Otero-Tepeyac-Las Torres (Guadalupe Avenue).
  • 'ROUTE 3: North Extension () Lienzo Charro Zapopan, Avenida Hidalgo-May 5-Industria-Avenida los Laureles-Dr. Luis Farias-Enrique Díaz de León-Miguel Amaya-Gral. Agustín Olachea-Lic. Luis Manuel Rojas-J. Aguirre E.-Peripheral North-de los Tabachines-Paseo de los Rasmbuesos (promenade of yours).

Twin towns – sister cities

Zapopan is twinned with:

  • Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
  • Cartago, Costa Rica
  • Changwon, South Korea
  • Chengdu, China
  • Częstochowa, Poland
  • Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
  • Jinan, China

<!--Kiryat Bialik - twinning ended-->

  • Marianao (Havana), Cuba
  • Rosemead, California, United States
  • Saginaw, Michigan, United States
  • San Pedro Sula, Honduras
  • Montpelier, United States

;Domestic cooperation

  • Atengo, Jalisco
  • Bahía de Banderas, Nayarit
  • El Grullo, Jalisco
  • Veracruz, Veracruz
  • Zapotlán el Grande, Jalisco

;Agreements cooperation

  • Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Phoenix, United States