Edificio Arroniz (Arroniz Building), Guadalajara

The Arróniz Building (Edificio Arroniz) is a historic Mexican building located in the heart of the city of Guadalajara. It was built in 1733 and was originally part of the convent of La Encarnación. However, due to the Reform Laws of 1859, the nuns of the convent were dispossessed, and the building was left abandoned. In 1868, it was ceded to the Archdiocese of Guadalajara to serve as a seminary, and by 1890, the building had many structural problems.

Archbishop Pedro Loza y Pardavé recommended that the building be rebuilt, and the engineer Antonio Arróniz Topete was put in charge of the reconstruction. In 1902, the Guadalajara Council Seminary was inaugurated. The three-story building is made of red and gray quarry with bricks baked at high temperatures, made in a factory by the same architect Arróniz. The north and south part of the property have Moorish architecture, while the ground floor has Renaissance and modernist influences.

The main façade faces Zaragoza street and has a portico framed by four columns. The ground floor has entrances, and the upper floors have balconies. The ground floor also has a central courtyard with open aisles on each side with arches supported by pillars. There are a pair of Mannerist stairs that connect the three floors and the mezzanine.

The building has had several uses throughout its history. In 1914, it was turned into the headquarters of the XV Military Zone, and it remained in military hands for 96 years. In 1995, it changed from the XV military zone to the V military zone. In 2009, the Secretary of National Defense ceded the compound to the state government, which converted it into the Western Archeology Museum. In 2015, it became the headquarters of the Secretary of Culture of the State of Jalisco.

One of the highlights of the building is its library, which is on two levels and has a wooden pedestal sheltered by a staircase that goes up to the second level. The collection in the library belongs to the historian and genealogist Gabriel Agraz García de Alba.

The Arróniz Building is an excellent example of the combination of different architectural elements that dates back to the time of the Porfiriato. Its preservation as a historic monument by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) is a testament to its cultural significance and importance to the city of Guadalajara.