Towns and Cities

The word “Zalaya” is Basque in origin and means “Flat Land”. On the 12th of October, 1570, Celaya was founded as the first town in El Bajío, known, from then on, as Villa de Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Zalaya. Later, in 1658, it was granted the title of Very Noble and Loyal City by the king, Felipe IV. It soon took on the function of supplying the needs of the mining centres, since its cereal production covered local needs and obtained good surpluses for the regional market.

Take a look at the City Map (Format *.pdf) of Celaya.

Its great demographic growth and participation in processes of urbanisation and industrial and tourist development with the architectural works of its own renowned Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras has placed it among the most important cities of the state, in addition to possessing an excellent location and easy access by double-lane highways. Famous for its high quality in the production of custard creams, as well as its delicious "cajetas", which can be found in a wide variety of flavours such as vanilla, wine-coloured, burnt, and with pecans, pine nut and coconut.