Sayula

Sayula lies in a basin of southern Jalisco, near the shores of a lake whose salt deposits were prized by the peoples of the region. The surrounding country belonged to a group of indigenous communities brought together under Spanish rule as the province of Ávalos. Sayula became one of its principal centres.

Franciscan missionaries first administered Sayula from Zapotlán and later from Amacueca. In 1573 a convent was established in Sayula itself, with Antonio de Gordejana as its first superior. By then the town had been served by a priest who preached to its indigenous inhabitants. Its friars also served Apango, Chiquilistlán, Amatitlán and Usmajac. A visitor in 1587 described an adobe convent with low rooms and a thatched roof, a three-aisled church and an orchard filled with trees and vegetables.