Oaxtepec is a town within the municipality of Yautepec and the Cuautla metropolitan area in the eastern part of the

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...

Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cuer ...

. Its main industry is tourism, mostly aimed at the inhabitants of nearby

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, and the town possesses various aquatic resorts and hotels. The climate is tropical and the countryside very lush. The population of Oaxtepec is 7,097 (2020). Oaxtepec had 6,939 inhabitants in 2010. During the XIX Olympiad in 1968, Oaxtepec was the venue and staging area for the World Youth Camp component of the Cultural Olympiad. Equestrian events at the 1968 Olympiad were held in Oaxtepec.

History

In pre-Columbian times, already one of the largest towns in the region, it was conquered by the

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

s under the rule of

Moctezuma I Moctezuma I (–1469), also known as Moteuczomatzin Ilhuicamina (), Huehuemoteuczoma or Montezuma I ( nci, Motēuczōma Ilhuicamīna , nci, Huēhuemotēuczōma ), was the second Aztec emperor and fifth king of Tenochtitlan. During his reign, the ...

lhuicamina. During Moctezuma Ilhuicamina's reign (1440–1469), the first leisure center for nobles was created in the warm territory of Oaxtepec, as well as low lands to the south of

Tenochtitlan , ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...

valley, today's

. Moctezuma ordered to use the

water spring A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fresh w ...

s of Oaxtepec to create an

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

system for

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and preservation of important vegetation of the

empire. An elaborate royal garden was established here where both flowers and other plants were cultivated. This was the first botanical garden in the Americas. When the Spanish first arrived in the region, they marveled at the beauty of the place. They praised Oaxtepec in their

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

s of the

conquest.Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, In the 16th century, thanks to the great number of medicinal plants found in the region, the

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ind ...

s decided to build the ''Santa Cruz de Oaxtepec'' hospital. Bernandino Álvares directed the project in 1569 and for the next two hundred years it was administrated by the ''Hermanos de la Caridad'' (Brother of Charity). The ''Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán'' (Church of Saint Dominic of Guzman) was built on the ruins of the main pyramid of Oaxtepec. A major event occurred in 1964 when the ''Centro Vacacional

Adolfo López Mateos Adolfo López Mateos (; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964. Beginning his political career as a campaign aide of José Vasconcelos during his run for president, Lóp ...

IMSS Oaxtepec'' (waterpark run by

Mexican Social Security Institute The Mexican Institute of Social Security ( es, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, IMSS) is a governmental organization that assists public health, pensions and social security in Mexico operating under the Secretariat of Health. It also forms ...

) was built on 120 hectares of land. This was the most important water park in Latin America. In 2018 it was remodeled, sold to a private company, and renamed

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Hurricane Harbor is a chain of water parks that are part of the Six Flags theme park chain. Although the parks are not identical, common features include a variety of body slides, speed slides, tube slides, wave pools, lazy rivers, and shopping ...

. A smaller water park called ''Parque Acuatico Oaxtepec'' (PAO) used to be in the area, but it was purchased by Hurricane Harbor.

Name and location

The etymology of Oaxtepec is from the

Nahuatl language Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan languages, Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in ...

and it means "On the mountain of huajes". ''Huaje'' is the Mexican Spanish name for the leadtree, ''

Leucaena esculenta ''Leucaena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the family Fabaceae. It contains about 24 species of trees and shrubs, which are commonly known as leadtrees. They are native to the Americas, ...

'', whose fruits are edible and is a popular food in south-central Mexico. Oaxtepec is located at an altitude of above sea level. * from the municipal seat of Yautepec. * (21 minutes) from

Cuautla, Morelos Cuautla (, meaning "where the eagles roam"), officially La heroica e histórica Cuautla, Morelos (''The Heroic and Historic Cuautla, Morelos'') or H. H. Cuautla, Morelos, is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Morelos, about 104 kilome ...

. * (44 minutes) from the state capital of

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The na ...

. * (1 hour, 47 minutes) via

Mexican Federal Highway 113 Federal Highway 113 (''Carretera Federal 113'') is a Federal Highway of Mexico. The highway travels from Mexico City in the north to Oaxtepec Oaxtepec is a town within the municipality of Yautepec and the Cuautla metropolitan area in the easte ...

or (1 hour, 29 minutes) via

Mexican Federal Highway 95D Federal Highway 95D is a toll highway connecting Mexico City to Acapulco, Guerrero. Highway 95D is among the most important toll roads in the country, serving as a backbone for traffic out of Mexico City toward Morelos and tourist destinations in ...

and

Mexican Federal Highway 115D MFederal Highway 115D is a toll highway primarily located in the State of Mexico. It serves as a bypass of the cities of Amecameca and Nepantla in the State of Mexico for traffic traveling Mexican Federal Highway 115. The road is operated by Cami ...

from Mexico City.

Places of interest

Monastery of Santo Domingo

Ex Convento de Santo Domingo de Guzmán Oaxtepec - Portada

The Ex-convento of Santo Domingo Félix de Guzmán was built by the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

between 1528 and 1580. The church was actually called Santiago Apóstol. It consists of an atrium opening onto the town's main plaza, a single

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, and two small chapels. There are two towers on the side. During the

Siege of Cuautla The siege of Cuautla was a battle of the War of Mexican Independence that occurred from 19 February through 2 May 1812 at Cuautla, Morelos. The Spanish royalist forces loyal to the Spanish, commanded by Félix María Calleja, besieged th ...

(1812), the church served as headquarters for General Leonardo Bravo. It also served as a headquarters for the

Liberation Army of the South The Liberation Army of the South ( es, Ejército Libertador del Sur, ELS) was a guerrilla force led for most of its existence by Emiliano Zapata that took part in the Mexican Revolution from 1911 to 1920. During that time, the Zapatistas fough ...

during the Mexican Revolution. Later it was a high school incorporated with the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos, (UAEM) and as the local House of Culture. A few years ago it was returned to the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

Water Parks

is a chain of water parks headquartered in

Grand Prairie, Texas Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties of Texas, in the United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it t ...

. Features include a variety of body slides, speed slides, tube slides, wave pools, lazy rivers, and shopping areas. The Oaxtepec water park opened in 2017 and is one of the largest in Latin America. The water park opened as ''Centro Vacacional "Adolfo López Mateos" IMSS Oaxtepec'' on 120 hectares (300 acres) of land run by the

in 1964. In 1998, it was sold to a private company and reopened as "Parque Acuático Oaxtepec (PAO)"; the company went into bankruptcy in 2011, after which it was sold to Six Flags. The Social Security Institute runs hotels and campgrounds within the park. ''Balneario El Bosque Oaxtepec'' ("The Oaxtepec forest water park″) is a rustic water park with a suspension bridge, waterfalls, river, pools, and archeological zone. The ''Pozo Azul'' (Blue Pond) is believed to have been used by ''

Tlatoani ''Tlatoani'' ( , "one who speaks, ruler"; plural ' or tlatoque) is the Classical Nahuatl term for the ruler of an , a pre-Hispanic state. It is the noun form of the verb "tlahtoa" meaning "speak, command, rule". As a result, it has been various ...

in the 15th century.

Archeology

In addition to the archeological site within the water park named above, prehispanic ruins can be found on the ''Cerro de los Huajes'' ("Hill of leadtrees") near the cemetery. Ruins of the colonial (1586-1820) ''Hospital de la Santa Cruz,'' built by the

Brothers of Charity The Brothers of Charity are an international religious institute of Religious Brothers and associate members at the service of the people most in need in the field of education and health care. The institute was founded in 1807 by Peter Joseph T ...

(Spanish: ''Hospitalarios'') are near "El Bosque" water park.

Climate

References

Literature

External links

* http://www.imss.gob.mx/IMSS/IMSS_SITIOS/IMSS_06/Derechohabientes/PES/CSI/TurismoyConvenciones/HomeCV_05.html
History of Oaxtepec (retrieved Dec 12, 2018)

Hurricane Harbor Oaxtepec (Spanish; retrieved Dec 12, 2018)
{{Authority control Populated places in Morelos Nahua settlements