Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/712

692 As late as 1770 the diocese of Guadalajara included Jalisco, Zacatecas, Chiametla, Culiacan, Sonora, and Sinaloa, to which was added afterward Lower California. All the Spanish settlements and many of the Indian towns were under curates before 1767, the only missions established being those of Nayarit. The cathedral is of plain exterior, but handsomely decorated internally. The first stone was laid by Ayala, the fourth bishop, on the 31st of July, 1571, and the building was completed on the 19th of February, 1618, and consecrated by Bishop Mimbela.

The bishopric of Durango was founded by bull of Paulus V. dated October 11, 1620. The first bishop. Friar Gonzalo de Hermosilla, an Augustinian, was in charge of the see from October 1621 until his decease in January 1631. At the time of the foundation the diocese embraced Nueva Vizcaya, Sonora, Sinaloa, and New Mexico. The cathedral of this diocese is of the Tuscan order. Its construction was begun about 1695 by the ninth bishop, García de Legaspi, who labored under great difficulties for want of architects.