GUADALUPE

city, central Nuevo Len estado (state), northeastern Mexico. It lies 672 feet (205 m) above sea level on the Santa Catarina River, about 3 miles (5 km) east of Monterrey, the state capital. Guadalupe is primarily an agricultural centre. Corn (maize) is the principal crop in the environs, but chick-peas are also important. Cattle and sheep are also raised in the vicinity. By virtue of its proximity to Monterrey, Guadalupe is easily accessible by highway, railroad, or air. Pop. (1980) 370,524. town, Cceres province, in the Extremadura comunidad autnoma (autonomous community), southwestern Spain. It lies on the southeastern slopes of the Guadalupe Mountains near the Guadalupejo River east of Cceres city. The town is famous for its monastery, which had its origins as a small hermitage built in the early 14th century on the spot where a shepherd had found an image of the Virgin. This shrine became known as Our Lady of Guadalupe and became a centre of pilgrimage. Alfonso XI of Castile visited the shrine in 1337, and in 1340 he founded a monastery there. In 1389 the Hieronymites (Hermit Order of St. Jerome) took over the monastery, and their first prior built the church with its Moorish-style cloisters and hospices; later, Henry IV of Castile and his mother, Mara of Aragon, were entombed there. The Flamboyant Gothic chapel of Santa Ana, the Gothic cloister, the chapter hall, and the library were added to the monastery later. The Monastery of Guadalupe became one of the richest and most important in Spain and achieved great renown for its architectural splendour and its artworks and other treasures. The monks of Guadalupe were skillful miniaturists, ironworkers, and silversmiths, and their surviving works are on display along with some notable paintings by Francisco de Zurbarn and Luca Giordano. The monastery was abandoned after the secularization of monasteries in 1835 but was occupied by the Franciscans in 1908. The modern town retains its function as a pilgrimage centre and serves as an agricultural market for vegetable oils, chestnuts, and cork. Pop. (1981) 2,765. county, central New Mexico, U.S., an arid plains area dotted with hills and red mesas and marked by a few arroyos. The county lies mostly in the Pecos River valley, rising in the east to a High Plains region. The Pecos makes an irregular curve through the county from northwest to south, exiting at Sumner Lake. Santa Rosa Lake is an impoundment on the Pecos at Los Esteros Dam. Santa Rosa Lake State Park and part of Sumner Lake State Park are within the county's borders. The Spanish explorer Francisco Vzquez de Coronado is said to have built a bridge across the Pecos at Puerto de Luna during his 1540 expedition. Despite resistance by Navajo Indians, whites settled permanently in the region in the 1860s, and the county was established in 1891. The junction of the Rock Island and Southern Pacific railroads at the town of Santa Rosa in the early 20th century and the building of U.S. Route 66 across the county in the 1930s stimulated development. The raising of cattle and sheep has long been the basis of Guadalupe county's economy; tourism is also important. Santa Rosa is the county seat. Area 3,030 square miles (7,847 square km). Pop. (1990) 4,156.