Motul is a small city in
Motul Municipality in the
Mexican state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* '' Our ...
of
Yucatán
Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate mun ...
, located some east of
Mérida. The city serves as the municipal seat. In the census of 2005 the population of the town of Motul was 21,508 people, while the municipality had a population of 31,547, living on an area of 297.63 km² (114.92 sq mi).
History
Motul was a site of the
Pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
Maya civilization
The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, ar ...
, said to have been founded in the 11th century by a priest named Zac Mutul. The city was ruled by the Pech family. After the fall of Yucatán's central government in
Mayapan
Mayapan (Màayapáan in Modern Maya; in Spanish Mayapán) is a Pre-Columbian Maya site a couple of kilometers south of the town of Telchaquillo in Municipality of Tecoh, approximately 40 km south-east of Mérida and 100 km west o ...
in the 1440s, the Pech ruled a regional kingdom called Cehpech with its capital in Motul.
With the
Spanish conquest of Yucatán
The Spanish conquest of Yucatán was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish '' conquistadores'' against the Late Postclassic Maya states and polities in the Yucatán Peninsula, a vast limestone plain covering south-eastern Mexico, norther ...
,
Conquistador Francisco de Montejo made Motul a
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...
colonial town. Motul has a Spanish colonial era
Franciscan
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...
with interesting
frescos.
Motul was granted the status of a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...
on 22 February 1872.
Motul was the birthplace of
Felipe Carrillo Puerto, a former
Governor of Yucatán who was assassinated in 1924. In his honor, the formal name of the city of Motul was changed to Motul de Carrillo Puerto.
Motul is known as the place of origin of the popular dish ''
huevos motuleños'' (eggs Motul style).
References
Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
YucatánEnciclopedia de los Municipios de México
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Motul, Yucatan
Populated places in Yucatán
Populated places established in the 11th century
11th-century establishments in Mexico