Tlaquepaque

Tlaquepaque is a very quiet and picturesque town south east of Guadalajara. It's a town of artisans, art galleries, silver shops, jewelers and restaurants capable of satisfying the most sophisticated tastes.

Tlaquepaque is the most important pottery centre in Mexico; its prestige in this field is world-renowned. In fact, it is the largest artisan centre in Mexico, where you can find the best handcrafted products in the whole country, especially pottery. There's a great variety of clay figures with typical scenes from history.

The word Tlaquepaque is said to mean "place on the clay earth" in Nahuatl wich is the native Mexican language, but it could also come from "tlacapan", meaning "clay stuff manufacturers". Other people believe it comes from the word "tlacipac", which means "over clay hills".

Before the Spanish arrival in 1542, Tlaquepaque was already a pottery town. In 1838 it was given the category of "town" but later, in 1843, it was categorized as a "village with three ranches". In 1873 the State Congress established a Politic directory at San Pedro's Village. In March 27th 1824, the town was given its own government and later it became part of the Metropolitan zone of Guadalajara.