The municipality and town of Totatiche is located in the northern extreme of the state of Jalisco, Mexico between 21°48’30” and 22°06’00” latitude north and 103°20’00” and 103°34’00” longitude east at a height of 1,751 meters (5,745 ft) above sea level.

There are five dams in the municipality: Candelaria, Magallanes, Temastián, La Boquilla and Agua Zarca and smaller ones in Romita, San Francisco, and Totolco.

At that time, there were a mere seven haciendas in the region: Acatepulco, founded in 1571, Santa María de Gracia, Totolco, El Salitre, Juanacatic, Patagua and Cartagena.

In April 1711, Fray Antonio Margil de Jesús embarked on a mission in Totatiche whose historical legacy is the local vocation to the Virgen del Rosario, the town and the parish's patron saint.

The seminary was founded in 1915 by Saint Cristóbal Magallanes Jara, who was arrested in the town in 1926 and later executed in neighboring Colotlán as part of the persecution of clergy during the Cristero Rebellion.