QUIROGA: a MEXICAN MUNICIPIO — BR.^jSTD 



47 



and 1862 the portales on three sides of this plaza 

 were erected. These portales or arcades contain 

 41 arches and 11 main pillars of quarried stone 

 from Tzirate; are floored with brick and tile; and 

 have a tile roof over a ceiling supported by mas- 

 sive pine rafters or vigas which were renewed 

 about 50 years ago. The shape of the Plaza 

 Principal is that of a wedgelike quadrangle, 72 

 meters long from the Portal Allende south to the 

 Calle Zaragoza, and tapering from 45 to 32 meters 

 between the portales Hidalgo (on the west) and 

 Mat amoros (on the east) . A narrow cobblestoned 

 street flanked by a cement sidewalk encloses the 

 central garden on three sides. Nineteen cement 

 benches or lunetas (carrying the names of the 

 donors — leading citizens and merchants, and dates 

 between 1939 and 1943) and seven iron and wood 

 seats are arranged along the inside of the sidewalk. 

 Lateral and diagonal walks converge on the cen- 

 tral area occupied by the statue of America, the 

 cement fountain, and an elevated and covered 

 kiosko or bandstand. This stand was erected in 

 1934 to replace an older one of 1894. Ash trees 

 border the plaza, and in the parterres of the garden 

 are a number of ornamental palms, banana plants, 

 jacarandas, etc. About 1934 the garden within 

 the Plaza Principal was named Jardin Belisario 

 Dominguez, but scarcely anyone in town knows 

 or uses this name. The Plaza de la Constitucidn 

 (Plaza Vieja) is located on the north side of the 

 Calle Zaragoza in the western portion of town. 

 Occupied blocks are on the west and east, and ruins 

 of adobe buildings are at the north side. The 

 plaza is surrounded by a dirt street on three sides, 

 and in the center is the pila de agua — a sLnaple 

 cement basin 9 meters in diameter. Niuncrous 

 ash, cypress, willow, and poplar trees are along the 

 Zaragoza frontage and irregularly distributed over 

 the plaza proper, whose sm-face is of the natural 

 earth. In the eastern portion there is an earthen 

 basketball court. At present this plaza serves no 

 special function. The Plaza de los Martires, 

 constructed in the 1860's on the site of the former 

 municipal buildings just west of the parish church 

 and curaio, contains one pila and the only rem- 

 nants of the metal jaroles or lantern posts left in 

 Quiroga. This plaza was paved with cobblestone 

 m 1890-92 to improve it for use as a market place, 

 which is its present function. Ash and privet 

 trees provide shade and decoration and, at the 



northwest corner adjoining the Calle Nacional, 

 are a number of semipermanent kitchen stalls and 

 general sales booths. The dimensions are about 

 65 meters north and south by 50 meters east and 

 west. The Plazuela de Nicolas Bravo (earlier 

 Degollado, and before that de los Naranjos from 

 some orange trees which were torn out in the 

 1870's) occupies the small irregular space at the 

 northwest corner of the Concepci6n Church, 

 where Ray6n, Aldama, Jimenez, and Degollado 

 streets converge. There is a central small jnla de 

 agua (constructed m 1879) and a few jacaranda 

 and privet trees. The Plazuela de jNIma {de los 

 Negros, and de los Tecolotes) is situated in the 

 triangle where La Parroquia street intercepts the 

 Calle Nacional, and Jazmin and Carreras enter 

 from the sides. There are a number of ash trees 

 and a pila built in 1867. The Plazuela de Valle 

 occupies the area where Ram6n Corona and Aba- 

 solo converge, and El Cuerno and Manuel Doblado 

 enter from the west and east. Here is the master 

 alcantarilla and by it a pila de agua and several 

 jacaranda trees. 



BRIDGES 



There are 20 bridges and culverts in town, of 

 which only 6 are formal bridge structures which 

 are apparent as one traverses the streets of Qui- 

 roga. These structures are arranged in three lines 

 or zones: (a) over the Arroyo del CeiTO Azul and 

 its tributaries in the eastern portion of town; (6) 

 over the central Arroyo de Quiroga ; and (c) over 

 the drainage lines that descend from the north- 

 west across the Plaza de la Constituci6n and near 

 the spring of Atzitzindaro. La age the bridges 

 and culverts vary from such as the old single arch 

 masonry bridge by the Abasto A^'iejo (which may 

 be more than a century old) to the modern steel 

 and concrete bridges built in the 1920's and 1930's 

 by the Government along the route of the main 

 highway. Many of the small bridges and culverts 

 are little more than some logs or a few large stone 

 slabs placed across the stream courses on the 

 minor streets. The most interesting bridge is one 

 of masomy and planking on the western tributary 

 of the Arroyo del Cerro Azul where it flows across 

 Guerrero, under a corner house, and across 

 Morelos. There was no surface indication of this 

 bridge excepting in the removable planks in the 

 inside corridor of the corner house. 



