The State of Colima, has various ecosystems, diversity of culture and traditions and a wide gastronomic offer distributed in its 10 municipalities: Manzanillo, Armería, Tecomán, Ixtlahuacán, Colima, Minatitlán, Coquimatlán, Villa de Alvarez, Comala and Cuauhtémoc that make From the sea to the mountains, touring the state is a range of diverse unique experiences and in less time than in other parts of the country and the world, making them always feel at home.
Based on the analysis of the archaeological materials corresponding to the Capacha phase, it is stated today that the first human settlements in Colima date back to the XNUMXth century (BC), being therefore contemporaries of Olmec sites such as San Lorenzo, in the Gulf area. and Tlatilco, in the Altiplano.
Around the 100th century (BC) a new phase begins, known as Los Ortices, in which the elements that will characterize the culture of the pre-Hispanic peoples of Colima appear for the first time: the “shooting tombs” and the “red” ceramics burnish". This phase was to last for almost a millennium, until the appearance of the complex called Comala - 600 AD to XNUMX AD
It is during the latter that the Colima pottery reaches its highest degree of perfection, in the representation of characters and animals with great technical and plastic quality; An example of this are the famous "groomed dogs." The Colima complex was superimposed on the Comala phase, where a certain Tehotihuacan influence can be identified; and around the year 500 d. C. the Armory complex, which developed over the river basin of the same name.
The Chanal complex -XNUMXth to XNUMXth centuries AD-, named after the ruins of that name, close to the City of Colima, followed those already mentioned. Most of the known and explored archaeological zones belong to this period, with buildings and urban layout -pyramidal platforms, roads and squares-, among which Chanal and La Campana stand out. In addition to its constructions, made with boulders, this complex is characterized by representations of deities such as Huehuetéotl and Tláloc, indicative of the influence and perhaps the arrival of groups from Mesoamerica.
A last migration from the north, with a different ceramic tradition from the previous ones, seems to have arrived at the Colimense coast around the XNUMXth century AD; its remains are called the Periquillo complex.
It was the towns of the Periquillo and Chanal complexes, which lasted in the XNUMXth century of our era, who faced the European conquerors.
Juan Rodríguez de Villafuerte captained the first incursion of the Spanish host into the territory of the former province of Colimán in 1522, being defeated by the natives in the Tecomán valley. After him came Captain Gonzalo de Sandoval, sent by Hernán Cortés with instructions to conquer the land and found a town. Sandoval complied and in the town of Caxitlán, near the coast, he founded the first town of Colima in 1523 and established a council, this being the third oldest in New Spain. Later, in 1527 Francisco Cortés de San Buenaventura would move the villa to its current location, giving it the name of San Sebastián de Colima.
Cortés de San Buenaventura, based on Colima, continued the expeditions of discovery and conquest to the north, expanding the territory of the new province to the south of the current state of Sinaloa. Later, with the creation of the kingdom of New Galicia, Colima would lose all its territories located north of the Cihuatlán or Marabasco river, and the region south of the Chapala Lagoon, then called Pueblos de Avalos. Until the end of the XNUMXth century, it conserved the Los Motines region, now belonging to Michoacán, in the southeast and until the XIX in the northeast, the Xilotlán district, today in Jalisco.
Since its founding, Colima was mayor's office, judicially dependent on the Royal Court of New Spain. With the Bourbon reforms and the reorganization of the viceroyalty, in the last decade of the XNUMXth century Colima became a subdelegation of the Intendancy of Guadalajara.
In religious matters, it depended on the bishopric of Valladolid from its creation until the end of the XNUMXth century, when it became dependent on the bishopric of Guadalajara. The regular clergy was represented by the Franciscans, Mercedarians and the brothers of San Juan de Dios.
In the first years immediately after the conquest, the indigenous population was drastically reduced. According to accepted estimates, it went from 150 before 1523 to less than 15 in 1554, and only began to recover until the middle of the XNUMXth century, despite the introduction of African and possibly indigenous slaves from neighboring regions.
The port of Santiago de Buena Esperanza, today Manzanillo, was essential for the courteous expeditions that led to the discovery of the Californias; and frequent scene of the incursions of the pirates attracted by the passage of the Manila Galleon; among others Francis Drake (1579), Thomas Cavendish (1587) and the Dutchman Joris Van Speilbergen (1615), who was defeated there by the Colima militias under the command of Captain Sebastián Vizcaíno.
Their industries were during the viceroyalty the production of salt and "coconut wine" - distilled guardian of the tuba, sap of the coconut tree. In agriculture, its main crops were cocoa, in the XNUMXth century, and later coconut, sugar cane and cotton. It also produced rice, indigo, and vanilla, as well as cattle and mule.
The news of the uprising led by Miguel Hidalgo came soon and caused alarm among the Spanish neighborhood; after all, having previously been a parish priest in the town, the priest of Dolores was known and had friends and disciples in Colima. In October 1810 the authorities apprehended the mayors of the Indian towns, gathered in Almoloyán, suspecting that they were planning an uprising.
In reality, the Indians of the Nahuales Barracks, equally alarmed by the news that the "rebels" were the King's enemies and were advancing destroying the temples, had gathered to agree on their defense. José Antonio Díaz, pastor of Almoloyán and a personal friend of Hidalgo, was accused of being the inciter, who would later join the insurgent army.
A month later, in November of that year, the insurgents under the command of José Antonio Torres (son) would make their first entry into Colima. In a few days the city was retaken by the royalists, and then again by the insurgents; and so on, without preserving either place. There were some battles of local significance, in which José Calixto Martínez, alias «Cadenas», Ignacio Sandoval, Miguel «El Lego» Gallaga, among others, stood out as military personnel.
In 1813, when Colima was in the hands of the royalists, the council swore the Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy; and the town became the city council of the Provisional Deputation of Guadalajara. It was Brizuela's turn, the Colima commander of the plaza in 1821, to proclaim the Plan of Iguala in Colima, which the military, civil and religious authorities solemnly swore in.
Once Independence was consummated and while it was still the council of the Diputación de Guadalajara, Colima ceded the towns of Tecalitlán and Xilotlán to Zapotlán, in exchange for the town of Tonila. With this act, when losing its extreme northeast the future state was reduced to the current dimensions.
Restored the order, in 1824 the Congress granted to Colima the category of Federation Territory, seeing itself for the first time free of its neighbors Michoacán and Jalisco, although for a few years since in 1837 it would return to depend on the first, then called Michoacán Department, of which Colima would be District of the Southwest.
During this time, the Colimans managed to open the port of Manzanillo to international trade and cabotage, although for a short time; and to acquire their first printing press, which premiered in 1826 with the publication of the Manifesto of Colonel Anastasio Brizuela and in which Messrs. Ramón R. de la Vega and Ramón Fajardo, would publish in 1830, "El Observador de las Leyes", the first newspaper from Colima .
It took nine years for Colima to regain the status of Territory; wait two more to reopen Manzanillo to international maritime trade and another nine, for finally, in 1856 to be elevated to the category of State of the Federation. Free once again, on July 19, 1857 he installed his first Legislature and General Manuel Alvarez was declared the first Governor-elect.
The following year, in March 1858, Colima received President Benito Juárez with his Cabinet, and the State Government Palace was declared the provisional seat of the Government of the Republic.
In 1861, for the first time since the conquest, Colima saw its territory increased when the Federal Congress ceded the Revillagigedo Islands, for the installation of a prison. The second, although temporary, would be in 1865 by the Law of Territorial Division of the Empire, decreed by Maximiliano, who granted Colima the category of Department, with five districts: Colima, Zapotlán, Sayula, San Gabriel and Manzanillo.
With the installation of the yarn and fabric factories: La Armonía, La Atrevida and San Cayetano, the signs of "scientific modernity" began to emerge. In 1869 the telegraph service was inaugurated in the capital city and immediately afterwards in the port of Manzanillo. Also, in 1883 the telephone.
In 1871 the construction of the Hidalgo Theater began, whose "official" premiere had to wait until 1887, whose name was Teatro Santa Cruz in honor of the governor of that time. The state's first institution of secondary education, "El Liceo de Varones", opened its doors in 1874. And with the pomp and solemnity of the case, the elevation of the parish of Colima to the rank of bishopric was celebrated in December 1881.
Before the end of the century, the railway, a symbol of the times, underpinned the recently released modernity. After many vicissitudes, on September 16, 1889 the section of the Manzanillo - Colima road was inaugurated, and in March 1892 the urban railway of the city of Colima.
After a brief but dramatic intermission caused by the earthquake of January 19, 1900, Colima resumed its modernizing march. The lights went on in time to light the festivities of 1906. The long-awaited section of the Colima-Tuxpan railway was completed, which, on its maiden voyage, in December 1908, arrived in Colima bringing its most distinguished passenger to President Porfirio Díaz .
After the crisis of the Mexican Revolution, the social organizations that would characterize the post-revolutionary period began to emerge. The agrarian reform began with the creation of the ejidos -Suchitlán the first- and organizations such as the Cooperative Society of Salineros de Colima and the Union of Stevedores of Manzanillo were formed. In the following decades, local politics would be marked by the intrusion of the new presidential centralism, the origin of the conflicts that election after election suffered from the state.
Consistent with the Center's policy, the local government began requisitioning schools, hospitals, and other institutions operated until then by clergy and Catholic organizations. When the Cults Law was published in 1926, an open war broke out between Cristeros and Agrarians. In the next five years the "cristiada" was going to cause more damage and bitter divisions among the Colimans than any previous war, without solving anything.
The textile industry was exhausted before the end of the 40th century; but not so the cultivation of cotton, which already with the railroad was sent to Guadalajara. In the XNUMXs, new lands were opened to cultivation in the Tecomán Valley, beginning a new economic cycle that is going to be distinguished by the cultivation of lemon and the birth of agro-industries.
Another singular celebration takes place in the town of Ixtlahuacán: the traditional robbery of the Child God. In it, four chayacates, masked men and dressed in a sack, steal from the butler's house the Child, for which they use different ingenious stratagems.
Another important festival is that of the Traveling Christ, Lord of the Expiration, which goes from town to town, hence its name. The last visit he makes, the second Monday of each January, is to the town of Coquimatlán. That day castles are burned and the procession is led with an allegorical chariot on whose platform the niche of the Traveling Christ is placed. The most graceful young women are dressed in sparkling robes, crepe paper wings, and tinsel crowns. The next day, a large number of dancers and groups of pastorelas pay tribute to the Lord of the Expiration.
As for the crafts and objects of folk art, they have samples of magnificent quality such as the traditional hammocks, the delicately decorated parota and leather furniture, equipments, suits, helmets and masks, as well as walking sticks, crowns and tin belts for the dancers. You can also find beautifully decorated pots; and the profusely embroidered dresses in red on white, which all the women, granddaughters, mothers and grandmothers wear on December 12 as a tribute to Guadalupana.
Colima's culture is closely related to crafts, dances and celebrations
Among the most popular and representative dishes from Colima are the sopitos -small toasts covered with mincemeat and covered in "juice" -; the fat, leg, loin or chicken sopes; and the toasts of the same meats and prepared on scraped and golden tortillas. Pork pozole is the traditional snack, with the characteristic of being dry.
Other typical stews are tatemado -pork marinated in coconut vinegar and stewed in red chile-, la pepena -stewed viscera-; and the coachala -martajada corn and cooked with shredded chicken-. The local varieties of the tamale are pata de mula - bean, wrapped in corn "leaf", not in totomoxtle-; those of meat and those of tender corn. Comala is distinguished by the production of dairy products, such as ranchero cheese, panela and cream; also, together with Villa de Álvarez, for its sweet bread, of which the bonnets or egg picón stand out.
During the rainy season it is possible to enjoy the jackals, or river prawns, prepared in broth. Likewise, at that time, on the coast, the moyos -variety of the Moorish crab-, stewed to the devil. There are shrimp farms that ensure the permanent supply of this culinary delight, enjoyable in broths, butter, garlic or simply cooked. Unlike the way it is prepared in neighboring states, Colima ceviche is made by finely shredding the fish and mixing carrots, in addition to the ingredients common to this dish. Carving fish is a highly appreciated specialty; This is prepared with a whole fish, open and covered with chopped vegetables, then wrapped in a banana leaf and roasted over the coals.
There are three typical refreshing drinks in Colima: Tejino, Tuba and Bat. Tejino is prepared with a martajada maize and panocha atole and served with plenty of ice, salt and lemon. The tuba, of Philippine origin, is the sap of the coconut tree, which is extracted by cutting the bud of what would form the cluster of coconuts. This can become natural, almond or made with chopped fruit and peanuts. The bat is made with chan - a seed from the chía family - and served with panocha honey. The only alcoholic beverage currently manufactured in Colima is Comala's punch, which is made of pomegranate -the most traditional-, prune, peanut, guayabilla and tamarind. Mezcal produced in the volcano region, locally called tuxca, is used in its preparation. Coconut produces a wide variety of typical sweets, such as alfajor and different types of cocadas. They also make tamarind sweets, pineapple alfajores, guava rolls, drunk milk with cinnamon and dehydrated bananas.
The typical dishes are prepared mainly from corn, fruit, pork, fish and seafood. Corn tamales, mincemeat, leg, loin, or chicken soup; River prawns prepared in moyo broth or mojo crab stewed a la diabla, pork pozole and the delightful pork stew are some typical dishes. In addition, the ceviche from Colima and the fish to size are distinguished by their originality. Typical desserts are the pineapple alfajor, cocada, guava rolls, dehydrated bananas and tamarind sweets. In colima the tuba is very popular, as well as the vendors called "tuberos". Profession passed down from generation to generation, the tubero obtains the flower spike of the coconut palm to prepare the tuba, which together with the Tejino and the bat form part of the Colima tradition of natural drinks.
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