The name Aguascalientes is a mash up of the words in Spanish for “hot” and “water” – which was really a description of the many hot springs that the area has. When Aguascalientes was initially founded, no one would have fathomed it would become the illustrious city it is today, with estimates of having nearly one million people in its city.
On this day October 22nd, in 1575, Aguascalientes, Mexico is founded by Juan de Montoro to be a postal rest stop between Zacatecas and Mexico City. The city was founded with 12 families.
Each year the city continues to grow. Aguascalientes has the largest Nissan plant outside of Japan, and it manufactures Versas and Sentras. It is due to this car plant that there is a small Japanese community. Each year sometime during the end of April, the city hosts a festival called the San Marcos Fair. It’s the largest festival in Mexico sometimes drawing in over 7 million people over the course of the 3-4 weeks it’s celebrated.