Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico

🇲🇽 Celaya is a city and its surrounding municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the south-east quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state. The city is includes many smaller outlying communities, the largest of which are San Miguel Octopan, Rincón de Tamayo and San Juan de la Vega.

There are many smaller towns around Celaya including Rincón de Tamayo, Tarimoro, Villagrán, La Moncada, Panales Jamaica (Cañones), Panales Galera, La Calera, La Estancia, La Noria, Los Fierros, El Acebuche, Cacalote, and Charco Largo. It is also not far away from Cortazar, Salamanca, Salvatierra, Apaseo el Grande, Querétaro City and among others. The city was founded in 1570 as Villa de la Purisíma Concepción de Zalaya. The word Zalaya is of Basque origin and means "Flat Land".

History Celaya was a frontier region between the Purépecha and the Chichimecas. General Álvaro Obregón defeated Pancho Villa in the Battle of Celaya in 1915. Celaya was also the Guanajuato state capital for a short period.

Education • Centro Pedagogico de Celaya • Colegio Arturo Rosenblueth • Colegio Marista • Colegio Nuevo Continente Bajío Celaya Campus • Complejo Educativo Ignacio Allende • Colegio Mexico • Escuela Bilingue Guilford • Instituto Andersen • Instituto Bilingue Oxford • Instituto Británico de Celaya (BIC) • Instituto Educativo Rosa G. de Carmona • Instituto Kipling • Instituto Sir Winston Churchill • Instituto Tecnologico de Celaya • Instituto Tecnologico de Roque • Instituto Universitario del Centro de México (UCEM) • Tecnologico de Monterrey • Universidad de Celaya • Universidad de Guanajuato • Universidad de Itesba • Universidad Lasallista Benavente • Universidad Latina de Mexico • Westminster Royal College

Ball of Water The Ball of Water reservoir has been a city icon since 1908; it continues to supply water to portions of downtown. The tank was manufactured in Germany and assembled on site, and is unique in being assembled using rivets rather than welds. It is believed to be the only one of its kind with a spherical shape (it is rumored[weasel words] that there was another similar water ball in Stuttgart, Germany that was destroyed during the Second World War). Traditionally, locals tell visitors that it is filled with cajeta, taking them to visit the "Bola del Agua" on Sundays, the traditional day for visiting the Independencia Lane.

Transport The Celaya Airport had (as of January 22, 2007) commercial flights to Santiago de Querétaro and connections from there to other destinations; these services were dropped in 2008. Celaya lies along the El Paso Spur of the Pan-American Highway which is known locally as Mexican Federal Highway 45.