San Sebastián del Oeste () is a town and municipality, located on the western part of Jalisco state,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, between 20°39’45’’ - 21°02’30’’ N and 104°35’00’’ - 104°51’00’’ W, at a height of 1,480 metres (4,856 ft).

Geography

The municipality of San Sebastián del Oeste borders the state of

Nayarit Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...

to the north; to the south, the municipality of Mascota; to the east, the municipalities of Guachinango and Mascota; and to the west,

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalaj ...

. The city and municipality are served by an airfield.

History

San Sebastián was founded as a mining town in 1605, during the early Spanish colonial

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...

period.

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

and

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...

were mined in the area. More than 25 mines and a number of foundries were established by 1785. The town was formally established as a city in 1812.

Population

At the start of the 21st century, San Sebastián city has a population of less than 1,000 people. It reached a peak population of around 20,000 people by 1900. The prosperity of the city declined after the

revolution of 1910 The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destructio ...

Features

San Sebastián del Oeste is a designated

Pueblo Mágico In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

, one of the towns maintaining their historical character and promoted by the federal government as tourism destinations. It also receives tourists visiting nearby Puerto Vallarta on the coast to the west. Recent road improvements reduced transit time from Puerto Vallarta to under 2 hours. *The Church of Saint Sebastian, whose original construction was in 1608, was designed in the Colonial Spanish Baroque style. It has notable architectural details, including

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order ( Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric ord ...

and ceiling vault

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

s. *Many structures in the city and municipality were built of cut stone and/or

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...

in the 19th and earlier centuries, and remain unchanged. Some old

hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchard ...

s in the municipality have been purchased and restored in recent decades. *The city is on the Tentative List ;Fiestas The town is known for its fiestas for religious holidays: * January 20 — a fiesta in honor of

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocle ...

. * August 15 — a fiesta dedicated to the Virgin of the Asunción. * October 7 — a fiesta for the Virgin of the Rosary. * December 12 — the

Virgin of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...

is venerated at the small town of Los Reyes, near San Sebastian del Oeste city in the municipality. The Fiesta of Guadalupe occurs throughout Mexico on this date.

Government

Its form of government is democratic and depends on the state and federal government; elections are held every three years, when the municipal president and her/his council are elected. The municipal president is Aurora Ponce Peña, from the Citizens' Movement party, who was elected in the elections on 6 June 2021.

Municipal presidents

Images

File:School in San Sebastián, Jalisco.jpg, School building and schoolyard. File:Coffee shop in San Sebastián town square..jpg, Michelada bar in the center of town. File:Church of San Sebastián tower.jpg, The Baroque bell tower of the Church of San Sebastián. File:Church of San Sebastián interior.jpg, Baroque interior of the Church of San Sebastián. File:San-Sebastian---Foundry-Ruins.jpg, Ruins of a gold and silver reduction

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

for the local mines. File:Hacienda Jalisco.jpg, Hacienda Jalisco, in the municipality. File:Grinding stone and ovens at Hacienda Jalisco.jpg, Hacienda Jalisco, a grinding stone and hornos (ovens). File:El Progreso bridge near San Sebastián, Jalisco.jpg, El Progreso Bridge, viewed from the south.

References

External links

Encyclopedia of Mexican Municipalities (Spanish)

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San Sebastián del Oeste: "Un Pueblos Mágicos" (Spanish).World Heritage Sites, Tentative list — submission document
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Sebastian, Jalisco Municipalities of Jalisco Mining communities in Mexico Pueblos Mágicos Populated places established in 1605 1605 establishments in New Spain World Heritage Tentative List for Mexico