León

León, or León de las Aldamas, a city of the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, 209 m. N.W. of the federal capital and 30 m. W. by N. of the city of Guanajuato. Pop. (1895) 90,978; (1900) 62,623, León ranking fourth in the latter year among the cities of Mexico. The Mexican Central gives it railway connexion with the national capital and other prominent cities of the Republic. León stands in a fertile plain on the banks of the Turbio, a tributary of the Rio Grande de Lerma, at an elevation of 5862 ft. above sea-level and in the midst of very attractive surroundings. The country about León is considered to be one of the richest cereal-producing districts of Mexico. The city itself is subject to disastrous floods, sometimes leading to loss of life as well as damage to property, as in the great flood of 1889. León is essentially a manufacturing and commercial city; it has a cathedral and a theatre, the latter one of the largest and finest in the republic. The city is regularly built, with wide streets and numerous shady parks and gardens. It manufactures saddlery and other leather work, gold and silver embroideries, cotton and woollen goods, especially rebozos (long shawls), soap and cutlery. There are also tanneries and flour mills. The city has a considerable trade in wheat and flour. The first settlement of León occurred in 1552, but its formal foundation was in 1576, and it did not reach the dignity of a city until 1836.