Tetela del Volcán or simply Tetela, is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos

Morelos

Morelos officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca....

. It is located on the slopes of the volcano Popocatépetl

Popocatépetl

Popocatépetl also known as "Popochowa" by the local population is an active volcano and, at , the second highest peak in Mexico after the Pico de Orizaba...

. 18°57′48"N 99°15′12"W.
The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is notable for its sixteenth century Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 ex-convent which together with a number of other early monasteries nearby

Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl

The Monasteries on the slopes of Popocatépetl World Heritage Site are fourteen 16th century monasteries which were built by the Augustinians, the Franciscans and the Dominicans in order to evangelize the areas south and east of the Popocatépetl volcano in central Mexico...

 in the area has been declared a UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

.

The toponym Tetela comes from Nahuatl

Nahuatl

Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...

 and means "place of rocks". The Volcán ("volcano") referred to is, of course, Popocatépetl

Popocatépetl

Popocatépetl also known as "Popochowa" by the local population is an active volcano and, at , the second highest peak in Mexico after the Pico de Orizaba...

.

Demographics

The municipality reported 16,428 inhabitants in the year 2000 census. Other towns in the municipality of Tetela del Volcán include Hueyapan

Hueyapan

Santo Domingo Hueyapan is a small town in the rural northeastern part of the Mexican state of Morelos, which belongs to the municipality of Tetela del Volcán. It lies at an elevation of ca 2000–2500 metres above sea level on the southern slopes of the active volcano Popocatépetl...

, Xochicalco (not to be confused with the archeological site of the same name) and Tlamimilulpan.

History

In 1503, Tetela del Volcán and nearby Hueyapan

Hueyapan

Santo Domingo Hueyapan is a small town in the rural northeastern part of the Mexican state of Morelos, which belongs to the municipality of Tetela del Volcán. It lies at an elevation of ca 2000–2500 metres above sea level on the southern slopes of the active volcano Popocatépetl...

 were subjugated to the Aztec

Aztec

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...

 Empire by Moctezuma II

Moctezuma II

Moctezuma , also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520...

. The first Spaniards to arrive in Tetela were Bernardino Vázquez de Tapia and Pedro de Alvarado

Pedro de Alvarado

Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of Yucatan and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the conquest of Mexico led by Hernan Cortes...

 in 1519. After the fall of Tenochtitlán Cortés arrived in Tetela del Volcán, where he found the Indians to be resistant and fierce. According to Diego Durán

Diego Durán

Diego Durán was a Dominican friar best known for his authorship of one of the earliest Western books on the history and culture of the Aztecs, The History of the Indies of New Spain, a book that was much criticized in his lifetime for helping the "heathen" maintain their culture.Also known as the...

 their subjugation was achieved only thanks to the intervention of María Estrada

María Estrada

María de Estrada was a woman to arrive in Mexico with the expedition of Hernán Cortés as well as one of the very few women of European descent to take part in and survive the Spanish conquest of Mexico....

 and her husband Pedro Sánchez Farfán, for which Cortés awarded the couple the lands of Tetela as an encomienda

Encomienda

The encomienda was a system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas to regulate Native American labor....

. In 1561 this encomienda was revoked and laid under the Spanish Crown directly, and in the Relacion Geográfica from 1665 this "realengo" appears to be administrated by corregidor

Corregidor

Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...

 Cristóbal Martínez de Maldonado.

In the 17th century the indigenous authorities were still functioning to a large extent (Gibson) and the Spanish and native government coexisted for a while as separate systems.

In 1784, Tetela del Volcán was incorporated into the Subdelegación de Cuautla and lost its status as "cabecera" (capital) of the district. When the administrative structure of corregimientos and alcaldías was abolished Tetela lost any special status.

When the state of Morelos

Morelos

Morelos officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca....

 was first established, Tetela del Volcán belonged to the municipality of Ocuituco

Ocuituco

Ocuituco is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos.It stands at .The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name.The municipality reported 15,090 inhabitants in the year 2000 census.-External links:...

. It was established as a separate municipality on January 31, 1937, during the government of Lázaro Cárdenas

Lázaro Cárdenas

Lázaro Cárdenas del Río was President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.-Early life:Lázaro Cárdenas was born on May 21, 1895 in a lower-middle class family in the village of Jiquilpan, Michoacán. He supported his family from age 16 after the death of his father...

.

After the 2006 Mexican election, Mario Soberanes (Nueva Alianza) was elected municipal president

Municipal president

A presidente municipal is the chief of government of municipios in Mexico. The position is comparable to the county executive of a county in the United States or to the mayor of a city in the United States, although the jurisdiction of a presidente municipal includes not only a city but the...

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/379504.htmlhttp://www.oem.com.mx/elsoldecuernavaca/notas_e.asp?urlnota=sec3-061006 and became the first citizen of Hueyapan

Hueyapan

Santo Domingo Hueyapan is a small town in the rural northeastern part of the Mexican state of Morelos, which belongs to the municipality of Tetela del Volcán. It lies at an elevation of ca 2000–2500 metres above sea level on the southern slopes of the active volcano Popocatépetl...

 to be elected president of the municipality. He was also the first municipal president from a party other than the Institutional Revolutionary Party

Institutional Revolutionary Party

The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few...

 since the municipality's founding http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/morelos/Municipios/17022a.htm.

Municipal Presidents

Name	Period of presidency
Pompeyo Montero Rodríguez (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1958-1960
Venancio Anzurez Mendoza (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1961-1963
Carlos Pérez Solís (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1964-1966
Anselmo Martínez Reyes (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1967-1970
Ladislao Trujillo Arenas (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1970-1973
León Montero Rodríguez (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1973-1976
Rosendo Rodríguez García (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1976-1979
Silvano Ariza Mendoza (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1979-1982
Pablo Torres Mendoza (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1982-1985
Mario Jiménez Gutiérrez (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1985-1988
Vardomiano Vazaldua Carrillo (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1988-1991
Paulino Velázquez Álvarez (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1991-1994
Leopoldo Mendoza Lavín (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1994-1997
Leoncio Pérez Jiménez (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	1997-2000
Antonio López Mendoza (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	2000-2003
Jorge Lozada Martinez (PRI Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that held power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution , making Mexico one of the few... )	2003-2006
Mario Soberanes Perez (Nueva Alianza)	2006-2009
Jorge Hernandez Mendieta (PAN Partido Acción Nacional Partido Acción Nacional may refer to:* National Action Party * National Action Party * National Action Party * National Action Party... )(Previously PSD Social Democratic Party (Mexico) The Social Democratic Party was a short-lived Mexican political party.The party's first name was Social Democratic and Peasant Alternative Party but on May 2007 changed its name to Social Democratic Alternative Party, and in 2008 changed once again to simply Socialdemocratic... ))		2009-2012