San Salvador Huixcolotla is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

in southeastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

that may be best known as the birthplace of

papel picado Papel picado ("perforated paper," "pecked paper") is a traditional Mexican decorative craft made by cutting elaborate designs into sheets of tissue paper. Papel picado is considered a Mexican folk art. The designs are commonly cut from as many ...

. ''San Salvador'' is

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, Cana ...

for "Holy Savior" and ''Huixcolotla'' is

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

for "place of the curved spines".

History

The original inhabitants were

Popoloca Popoluca is a Nahuatl term for various indigenous peoples of southeastern Veracruz and Oaxaca. Many of them (about 30,000

speakers, under the

Aztec Triple Alliance The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled that area in and around the Valley of Mexico ...

. Friar Juan de Rivas founded a small congregation in 1539 as part of the

Spanish colonization The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

, and in 1750 construction began on ''Iglesia del Divino Salvador'' (Church of the Divine Savior). In 1779 it became a town, and on 15 April 1930, it was declared a municipality under the governorship of Leonides Andrew Almazán.

Geography

The total area of San Salvador Huixcolotla is , of which 79% is devoted to agriculture and the remaining 21% developed. The four ''barrios'' are El Calvario, San Antonio, San Martín, and La Candelaria, and the three ''colonias'' are San Isidro, Dolores, and Benito Juárez. It is surrounded to the north by the municipalities of Los Reyes de Juárez and

Acatzingo Acatzingo Municipality is a municipality in Puebla in south-eastern Mexico. The BUAP The Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) (Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla) is the oldest and largest university in Puebla, Mexico. ...

; to the east by Acatzingo and Tecamachalco; to the south by Tecamachalco, Tochtepec, and Cuapiaxtla de Madero; and to the west by Cuapiaxtla de Madero and Los Reyes de Juárez.

Climate

The typical range of temperatures is . Typical annual rainfall is .

Demographics

78.12% of the population lives in poverty. As of 2015, electricity and sanitary systems are universal, but only 50.10% of households have piped water inside their homes. 90.25% of the population between age 6 and 14 can read and write.

Papel picado

Papel picado ("perforated paper," "pecked paper") is a decorative Mexican folk art made by cutting elaborate designs into sheets of tissue paper that was popularized in San Salvador Huixcolotla. It is thought to have originated from the pre-Hispanic practice of making religious offerings with amate bark paper. Among the first makers were Juan Hernandez, Cristóbal Flores, Santiago Vivanco R., and Lauro Pérez Macías. By the late 1920s it had spread outside Puebla to

Tlaxcala Tlaxcala (; , ; from nah, Tlaxcallān ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipaliti ...

and is now used around the world in observations of ''Día de Muertos'' (Day of the Dead). In addition to ''Día de Muertos'', known locally as ''Todos Santos'', papel picado is also commonly made to celebrate

Semana Santa Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

(the Holy Week of Easter),

Mexican independence The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...

, and Christmas. In 1998 the governor of Puebla declared the town, in which 35% of the residents participate in this craft, a cultural heritage of the state. Papel picado from Huixcolotla is exported around the world via the

Museo Nacional de Arte The Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL) ( en, National Museum of Art) is the Mexico, Mexican national art museum, located in the Centro (Mexico City), historical center of Mexico City. The museum is housed in a neoclassical building at No. 8 Tacuba, C ...

Other culture

An annual fair celebrates the town's patron of San Salvador and runs from 6–14 August. A typical dish is the eponymous mole poblana of the region.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities of Puebla