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Durango (city)

Capital and largest city in the northern Mexico state

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Victoria de Durango
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Durango was founded on 8 July 1563, by the Spanish explorer Francisco de Ibarra. During the Spanish colonial era the city was the capital of the Nueva Vizcaya province of New Spain, which consisted mostly of what became the Mexican states of Durango and Chihuahua. The city was founded due to its proximity to the Cerro del Mercado, in the northern part of the modern city, which was believed to contain large amounts of silver. Eventually, an important iron deposit was discovered.

History

The town was named by Francisco de Ibarra after his hometown Durango in the Spanish province of Biscay. The name Durango is of Basque origin. Ibarra also named the surrounding area Nuevo Vizcaya (New Biscay). The official name of the city became Victoria de Durango in 1826, in honor of Guadalupe Victoria, the first president of Mexico and native of the state. The city's coat-of-arms serves as the seal for the state.

Since the pre-historic period the area was a conduit for influences from north and south, between Aridoamerica and Mesoamerica. The first inhabitants of the area were a people called the Nahoas, nomads who came to the area from the north about 2,000 years ago. By the Post Classic period, the area became inhabited by the Zacatecans and the Tepehuanos, who migrated here from the north-west.

The modern city began as a mining town, officially founded as Villa de Durango by Francisco de Ibarra on 8 July 1563. Ibarra was sent north by Viceroy Luis de Velasco to conquer the territory and found the city. The site was chosen because of its proximity to the Cerro de Mercado, thought at the time to contain reserves of silver, but instead was found to be an important source of iron. The mountain was named for Captain Ginés Vázquez de Mercado, who discovered the valley on his expeditions in the north. The site was also chosen because it was close to the Franciscan mission at Analco, which was a source of water, wood, and animals to hunt. The initial layout of the town was done by Alonso de Pacheco, bordered by what became Madero and Constitución streets on running north–south, and by 5 February and 20 November running east–west. The historic center is located around the Plaza de Armas (main square) and the Cathedral Basilica.

Due to its distance from Mexico City, the city and the surrounding communities developed relatively autonomously. Some of the earliest missions in the north of the country are located in and around the city. It became an important stop on the road north to conquer what is now the north of Mexico and Southwest U.S. The Jesuits were also missionaries here from 1596 until their expulsion from New Spain in 1767. They founded the Colegio de Guadiana, which was the main educational institution for northern Mexico during the colonial period.

The town became a parish in 1620. It was officially named a city on 3 March 1630. Difficulties forced the near-abandonment of the city of Durango in the 17th century, with the provincial capital moving to Parral, but starting in 1680, the city began to grow again. This was because the mines in Parral had started to give out and the reduction in violence as the Spanish government succeeded in subduing the native peoples. The city regained its role as the province's capital on 10 October 1738.

Durango provided peak influence during the 18th century because of the mining of various minerals in the nearby Sierra Madre Occidental. The bonanza allowed for the creation of several grand colonial-era buildings in the city center.

Various players in the War of Independence, including Miguel Hidalgo, were executed here on 17 July 1812. Their remains were buried at the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.

In 1867, Benito Juárez stayed here while traveling north.

The city became an archdiocese on 23 June 1891.

During the late 19th and early 20th century, the city of Durango remained the political center of the state and a regional commercial center for agricultural and handcrafted products. Mayors of the city concentrated on improving infrastructure, such as government buildings, hospitals, water supply lines, and public streets. The population grew.

In 1911, the city joined the Mexican Revolution under the leadership of the Arrieta brothers. Domingo Arrieta took the city, and the soldiers under the command of Victoriano Huerta rebelled against the government. The Revolution led to the loss of production of both haciendas and factories. On 18 June 1913, insurgents took the city and burned businesses. The war led to economic depression lasting decades. In 1917, Domingo Arrieta, loyal to Venustiano Carranza, became governor of the state.

The destruction of the city center led to development outside of it, with the first neighborhood, Colonia Obrera of 1918, to break the historical limits of the city as it was near an ice factory and the rail line. The establishment of new neighborhoods (colonias) continued in the 1930s along the rail lines. Efforts were made from this time to the 1960s to regulate this growth.

The population grew noticeably in the 1960s and 1970s mostly due to migration from rural areas, increasing urban sprawl to 1,058 hectares. One major factor of this growth was the droughts of this time on agricultural production as well as expectations of industrial development.

The history of filmmaking in Durango started in 1898 with a clip titled A train arriving in Durango. However, in the 1950s, commercial filmmaking began in the city and surrounding areas. Director Jack Smith discovered La Ferrería Hacienda and found the landscape perfect for Western films. The first movie shot here was White Feather by 20th Century Fox. Over the following decades, various Hollywood and Mexican films were shot here, attracting various famous stars. These included Robert Wagner, Clark Gable, Charlton Heston, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Glenn Ford, Anthony Quinn, and especially John Wayne, who shot seven films and bought a ranch called La Joya. Film production continued into the 1970s and 1980s, with Mexican companies using the area. More recent stars to work here include John Cusack, Kevin Costner, Salma Hayek, Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Brendan Fraser. Film production has diminished and the state has a director of cinematography to promote filmmaking. The main attraction for filmmakers is the variety of landscapes.

Population growth accelerated in the 1970s due to the city's economic development including cinematic production, and economic decline in other parts of the state. Transportation infrastructure increased with the establishment of the airport. Industrial parks such as Durango and Gómez Palacio were established.

New efforts to regulate growth were initiated in the early 1980s, especially in zoning with limited success. Housing developments began during this time with urban sprawl reaching 5,368 hectares by 1992.

Urban development in the 1990s into the 2000s focused on road paving as well as traffic signals. Throughways such as the Anillo Periférica (Ring Road) were built in the 2000s and 2010s.

The city became a World Heritage Site in 2010, as part of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. In the 2010s, many of the streetlights were replaced with those with LED lighting, to save costs and energy. In 2013, the city council voted unanimously to ban bullfighting in the municipality. In 2013, the city celebrated the 450th anniversary of its founding.

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