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has many attractions to bring tourists here, and as a result, travelers who do
venture here often find that the people are unusually friendly and curious.
In April, however, people from around Mexico come to the city of
Aguascalientes to celebrate the Feast of San Marcos. This month-long fiesta
attracts artists, musicians, dancers, actors, and poets.
Jalisco
As you continue to travel south, you will enter the much larger state of Jalisco.
Unlike the central states through which you’ve just traveled, Jalisco is bordered
to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Lake Chapala, Mexico’s second largest lake,
also lies within its borders, and the Río Grande de Santiago flows out of the lake
and across the state, providing the state with moisture.
The state’s capital and largest city is Guadalajara. This city was first founded
by one of the most brutal of the Spanish conquistadors, a man named Nuño de
Guzmán. De Guzmán killed so many of the Amerindians in the area that very
little of the native culture
survived.
Mexican Facts and Figures
32
The cathedral of Guadalajara is
one of the finest buildings in
Mexico. Guadalajara is the capital
of Jalisco, and the second-largest
city in Mexico.