Yuriria,

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

,(), is one of 46 municipalities in the Mexican state of

Geography

Yuriria is located in the "

Bajío El Bajío (the ''lowland'') is a cultural and geographical region within the central Mexican plateau which roughly spans from north-west of the Mexico City metropolitan area to the main silver mines in the northern-central part of the country. Thi ...

", or lowlands, of

. It is bordered to the east by

Salvatierra Salvatierra may refer to: Places ;Mexico * Salvatierra, Guanajuato, a municipality in the state of Guanajuato ;Spain * Salvatierra (comarca), a subcomarca of Guijuelo in the province of Salamanca, Castile and León * Berrocal de Salvatierra, a mun ...

and

Santiago Maravatío Santiago Maravatío is a Mexican city (and municipality) located in the Bajío (''lowlands'') of the state of Guanajuato. With an area of 91.760 square kilometres, Santiago Maravatío accounts for less than 1% of the surface of the state. It is b ...

, to the north by

Jaral del Progreso Jaral del Progreso is a Mexican city and municipality located in the Bajío (''lowlands'') of the state of Guanajuato. With an area of , Jaral del Progreso accounts for 0.57% of the surface of the state. It is bordered to the north by Salamanca, ...

and

Valle de Santiago Valle de Santiago is a ''municipio'' (municipality) in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, and also the name of its largest township and '' cabecera municipal'' (municipal seat). The municipality is located in the southern portion of the state in th ...

, to the south by

Uriangato ( en, Place where sunset occurs on top) , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location of Uriangato within Guanajuato , pushpin_map = Mexico , pushpin_mapsize = 250 , coordinates = , subdi ...

and

Moroleón Moroleón is a city located in the same name municipality of the state of Guanajuato, adjacent to the border with the state of Michoacán, in Mexico. In 1604, Dona Juana María de Medina y Calderón was granted land in the jurisdiction of Yuriri ...

, and to the west by the state of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

. Its total area is 656 square kilometres. The town of Yuriria lies on the southern shore of

Lake Yuriria Lake Yuriria (Spanish ''Laguna de Yuriria'') is a reservoir in Guanajuato state of central Mexico. The reservoir has existed since the 16th century, and is used for irrigation of the surrounding farms. The lake is an important habitat for waterbir ...

, a shallow reservoir fed by water from the

Lerma River The Lerma River ( es, Río Lerma) is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near ...

Population

The

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of Yuriria and its surrounding areas totals 68,741 people. Of these, only 25,845 live in urban Yuriria, while 42,846 live in the rural areas surrounding the main town. The largest rural settlements in Yuriria are

Cerano Cerano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southeast of Novara. Cerano borders the following municipalities: Abbiategrasso, Boffalora sopra Ticino, ...

(pop. 5,435), El Monte de los Juarez, its main agricultural source with a population of approximately 594, El Xoconoxtle (pop. 731), La Calera (pop. 1,767) and

Casacuarán San Pablo Casacuarán is a small town located in the southern region of the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Commonly known just as Casacuarán, it stands on the road connecting the cities of Yuriria, Santiago Maravatio and Salvatierra Salvatierra m ...

(pop. 2,184). Santa Monica Ozumbilla is one of the oldest communities in Yuriria dating as far back as the early 16th century.

History

The name Yuriria is a shortened version of "Yuririapúndaro" (you-ri-ri-ah-PUHN-da-Ro), which means Place of the Bloody Lake in the

Purépecha language Purépecha (also ''P'urhépecha'' , tsz, Phorhé or ''Phorhépecha''), often called Tarascan, which is a pejorative term coined by Spanish colonizers ( es, Tarasco), is a language isolate or small language family that is spoken by some 140,000 ...

.“The Yuriria and Cuitzeo Monasteries.” Artes de México, no. 86/87, 1966, pp. 18–19. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24312711. Accessed 25 Jul. 2022. In 1548, Friar Diego de Chávez, of the

Augustinian Order Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

, supervised construction of a canal from the

to the east to enlarge Lake Yuriria with water from the river. Friar Diego de Chávez also founded the Augustinan Monastery, work on which began in 1566 under the supervision of architect Pedro del Toro. The monastery was fortified to deter

Chichimec Chichimeca () is the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who were established in present-day Bajio region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the meaning as the Roman term "barbarian" that des ...

raids.

Landmarks

Landmarks in the municipality include:

Ex-Convento San Agustín

The Ex-Covento, or cathedral is probably the most important architectural structure in Yuriria, as well as an important icon in the state in general. Since its construction in November 1550, and its culmination on 1559, its massive size and dazzling structure captured the attention of generations, and ultimately put Yuriria on the map. Its construction was started by Fray Diego de Chavez, nephew of the ''conquistador'' Don Pedro Alvarado and was designed by the famous architect Pedro del Toro. File:Ex-Convento Agustino 01.JPG, Convento de San Agustín de Yuriria. Image:Interior convento 3.jpg, Interior view of Yuriria Convent. Image:detalle templo yuriria 1.jpg, Detail of the Temple of the Ex-Convent of San Agustín de Yuriria. Image:detalle templo yuriria 2.jpg, Detail of the Temple of the Ex-Convent of San Agustín de Yuriria. Image:detalle templo yuriria 3.jpg, Detail of the Temple of the Ex-Convent of San Agustín de Yuriria.

Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo

The Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo (Temple of the Precious Blood of Christ) is a 19th century church which houses a 17th century black figure of Christ. File:Templo de la Parroquia de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, Yuriria, Guanajuato.JPG, Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo.

Climate

References

{{Guanajuato Municipalities of Guanajuato Pueblos Mágicos