The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican-American War was signed "at the main altar of the old Basilica of Guadalupe", or possibly in an adjacent building. This is a major Catholic pilgrimage site, near the site of the 1531 apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe. In or around 1709 the basilica was built. In 1828, the surrounding village was renamed after the independence hero Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. The villa of Guadalupe Hidalgo was therefore iconic even before the treaty was signed.
Why was this highly symbolic site chosen for the signing of the treaty? Was it the war's losers or winners who sought to attach the names of the great national icons, the Virgin and Hidalgo?