Originally, fighting bulls were brought to Mexico in the 16th century supposedly as “guard animals” These bulls were of Navarre stock brought from Spain. As these animals were unknown in the New World, native peoples of the surrounding areas would not enter the hacienda's land for fear of them. The Casco of the hacienda is considered to be the origin of Mexican bullfighting, when the corrals for the bulls were built, along with the chapel in 1550. The first formal bullring in Mexico was built here in 1820, called El Tenadero. The first Mexican bullfighter to fight in Madrid, Ponciano Diaz, was a native of this area who went to Spain to try his luck in 1880. Some of the bullfighters who came through here include Juan Belmonte, Rodolfo Gaona and Rafael Gómez Ortega.