Zitácuaro
Encyclopedia
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
state
States of Mexico
The United Mexican States is a federal republic formed by 32 federal entities .According to the Constitution of 1917, the states of the federation are free and sovereign. Each state has their own congress and constitution, while the Federal District has only limited autonomy with a local Congress...
of Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
. The city is the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...
of the same name, which lies at the extreme eastern side of Michoacán and borders on the adjacent state of México
Mexico (state)
México , officially: Estado Libre y Soberano de México is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of the United Mexican States. It is divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Toluca de Lerdo....
. The city reported a population of 78,821 in the 2005 census, while the municipality had a population of 136,491. The city is the fifth largest in the state, as is the municipality. The municipality has an area of 498 km² (192.3 sq mi).
Geography
Zitácuaro stands at 19°26′N 100°22′W, in the northeast corner of Michoacán, some 150 km east of state capital Morelia, at an elevation of 1940 metres above sea level. The municipality covers a total of 498 km² and is drained by the Río Zitácuaro, the Río San Andrés, and the Río San Juan Viejo. The surrounding terrain is mostly the pine-covered mountains of the Sierra Madre OccidentalSierra Madre Occidental
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a mountain range in western Mexico.-Setting:The range runs north to south, from just south of the Sonora–Arizona border southeast through eastern Sonora, western Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco, Aguascalientes to Guanajuato, where it joins...
; to the north of Zitácuaro are the famed Mexican wintering grounds of the monarch butterfly
Monarch butterfly
The Monarch butterfly is a milkweed butterfly , in the family Nymphalidae. It is perhaps the best known of all North American butterflies. Since the 19th century, it has been found in New Zealand, and in Australia since 1871 where it is called the Wanderer...
.
In 1995 the municipality reported a total population of 130,500 inhabitants, accounting for 3.1% of the state's total population. Of these, some 3,740 people spoke an indigenous language (primarily Otomi
Otomi people
The Otomi people . Smaller Otomi populations exist in the states of Puebla, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Michoacán and Guanajuato. The Otomi language belonging to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family is spoken in many different varieties some of which are not mutually intelligible.One of...
, Mazahua
Mazahua
The Mazahua are an indigenous people of Mexico, inhabiting the northwestern portion of the State of Mexico and northeastern area of Michoacán, with a presence also in the Federal District owing to recent migration...
, and Tarascan). Approximately 75,000 lived in the municipal seat.
Zitácuaro is an important intermediate point on Federal Highway 15
Mexican Federal Highway
Mexican Federal Highways, are roads maintained and built by the federal government of Mexico, through the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation ....
, which runs from Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
to Morelia
Morelia
Morelia is a city and municipality in the north central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital of the state. The main pre-Hispanic cultures here were the P'urhépecha and the Matlatzinca, but no major cities were founded in the...
(following the route of the colonial royal road). Another road branches off in the city en route for Huetamo
Huetamo
Huetamo is a municipality in the southeastern corner of the Mexican state of Michoacán, in a region known as "Tierra Caliente" . Of indigenous Purepecha Indian origin, the word "Huetamo" means "four chiefs" or "four came". Fr...
, Ciudad Altamirano
Ciudad Altamirano
Ciudad Altamiro may refer to:* Ciudad Altamirano, Guerrero* Ciudad Altamirano, Michoacán...
, and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
coast. A railways leads northwards to Maravatío
Maravatío
Maravatío is a municipality in the Mexican state of Michoacán, representing 1.17% of its land area, or 691.55 km2.- Etymology :The modern word Maravatío comes from the P'urhépecha word Marhabatio, meaning a precious place or thing....
(nowadays used only for freight).
Other towns and villages in the municipality: Aputzio de Juárez, Crescencio Morales, Curungueo, San Felipe de los Alzati, and Zirahuato.
History
An indigenous settlement was founded on the site of modern-day Zitácuaro, possibly as early as the 12th century by OtomiOtomi people
The Otomi people . Smaller Otomi populations exist in the states of Puebla, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Michoacán and Guanajuato. The Otomi language belonging to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family is spoken in many different varieties some of which are not mutually intelligible.One of...
s and Mazahua
Mazahua
The Mazahua are an indigenous people of Mexico, inhabiting the northwestern portion of the State of Mexico and northeastern area of Michoacán, with a presence also in the Federal District owing to recent migration...
s (an Otomi ceremonial centre still stands in San Felipe de los Alzati, 9 km to the north of the municipal seat). In the mid-14th century, Tarascans led by Yquingari conquered the region.
At the time of the Spanish conquest, the area stood on the border between the lands of the Tarascan league and those of 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. The locals are reported to have fought alongside the Aztecs, with whom they were allied, in the failed defence of Tenochtitlan. Following this defeat, Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
friars established a parish church with the name of San Juan Tzitácuaro, and a monastery was founded in the early 18th century.
Following Mexico's Declaration of Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
in September 1810, the area around Zitácuaro joined the insurgent cause under the leadership of Benedicto López, a local criollo farmer. In response to López's cutting off of the royal road between Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
and Valladolid
Morelia
Morelia is a city and municipality in the north central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital of the state. The main pre-Hispanic cultures here were the P'urhépecha and the Matlatzinca, but no major cities were founded in the...
, the viceroy sent a regiment of loyalist troops to put down the rebellion. This regiment was repulsed on 20 February 1811 and defeated on 22 May, and its captain, Juan Bautista de la Torre, was taken prisoner and killed by indigenous militia-men. Later that summer, Benedicto López surrendered control of the city to Ignacio López Rayón
Ignacio López Rayón
Ignacio López Rayón led the revolutionary government of his country after Miguel Hidalgo's death, during the first years of the Mexican War of Independence....
, who set up in Zitácuaro on 21 August 1811 the Suprema Junta Nacional Americana (the "Supreme American National Council"), recognised as the first attempt by the insurgents to establish an independent government. This outraged the royalist forces in Mexico City, which attacked the city and, on 12 January 1812, regained control, sacked it, and summarily razed it to the ground.
The 1812 incident was the first burning of Zitácuaro. The second took place on 1 April 1855, at the hands of troops loyal to Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, known as "the Napoleon of the West," was a Mexican political leader, general, and president who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government...
during the Revolution of Ayutla, in response to the city's expressed support for Gen. Juan Álvarez
Juan Álvarez
Juan Nepomuceno Álvarez Hurtado was a general and interim president of Mexico for a few months in 1855. He fought in all the major wars of Mexico, from the War of Independence through the Pastry War, the Mexican-American War, and the War of the Reform to the war against the French Intervention...
. The city was burnt to the ground on a third occasion on 15 April 1865 by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Imperial
Mexican Empire
The Mexican Empire or rarely Gran Mexico was the name of modern Mexico on two brief occasions in the 19th century when it was ruled by an emperor. With the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire from Spain in 1821, Mexico became an independent monarchy, but was soon replaced with the...
troops in reprisal for the Republicans' victory at Tacámbaro some days earlier.
In recognition of the turbulent events of the previous half-century and the city's heroism, on 20 April 1868 President
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
issued a decree whereby San Juan Zitácuaro would henceforth be known by the name of "Heroica Zitácuaro".
Presa del bosque
Presa del bosque is an important dam built between 1951 to 1954 by the Commission Federal de Electricidad. The Presa del Bosque is supplied by the Zitácuaro River (or San Juan Viejo), the San Isidro and a tributary or the Tuxpan RiverTuxpan River
The Tuxpan River in Mexico flows into the Gulf of Mexico near the city and port of Tuxpan de Rodríguez Cano in the state of Veracruz. Its principal sources are the Vinazco, which rises in Hidalgo, and the Pantepec, which rises in Puebla, both of which enter the territory of Veracruz before the city...
. It is located 1742 meters above sea level. The dam has a capacity of 248 million cubic meters and belongs to the Miguel Alemán hydroelectric system. Its water is conducted to the regulatory dam of Colorines in the State of México. The water is used in hydroelectric plants in Ixtapatongo, Santa Barbara and Tingambato
Tingambato
Tingambato is a municipality in the north-central part of the Mexican state of Michoacán. Its municipal seat is the city of the same name. The municipality has an area of 188.77 square kilometres and is bordered by the north by the municipalites of Nahuatzén and Erongarícuaro, to the east by...
. It is located 5 kilometers from the south of the Zitácuaro beside the Zitácuaro-Huetamo Road. The main entrance is from the pueblo colonia linda vista and the dam is surrounded by the towns of La Y Griega, La Encarnacion, La Palma, Los Sapotes and other smaller communities. It is a tourist destination, and fishing, camping and other activities are permitted. The area is especially popular in holy week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
when the municipal authorities organize various activities.
People swim in the dam water because of its mythical curing powers. It is also a popular area for football, volleyball, riding and other recreational pursuits.