Tecoh Municipality is one of 106

municipalities 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 ...

in Yucatán State,

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 ...

, located 40 km south-east of

Mérida, Yucatán Mérida () is the capital of the Mexican state of Yucatán, and the largest city in southeastern Mexico. The city is also the seat of the eponymous Municipality. It is located in the northwest corner of the Yucatán Peninsula, about 35 km (22 ...

. It has a municipal capital of the same name. As of 2003, the city Tecoh had a population of about 8,500 people. Most of the population is

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

. A number of buildings in the town were built atop older

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, th ...

foundations. "Tecoh" means "Place of the Puma" in the

Yucatec Maya language Yucatec Maya (; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as , is one of the 32 Mayan languages of the Mayan language family. Yucatec Maya is spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic commu ...

, which is still widely spoken here. Most of the farms in Tecoh are used to grow

henequen Henequen (''Agave fourcroydes'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, native to southern Mexico and Guatemala. It is reportedly naturalized in Italy, the Canary Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Hispaniola, the Cayman Islands and ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

, and

tropical fruit A tropical fruit one that typically grows in warm climates, or equatorial areas. Tropical fruits Varieties of tropical fruit include: * Acerola ( West Indian Cherry or Barbados Cherry) *Ackee *Banana *Barbadine (granadilla; maracujá-açu in ...

Communities

The municipality is made up of 20 communities, of which the most important are: *

Tecoh Tecoh is a town and the municipal seat of the Tecoh Municipality, Yucatán in 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 ...

(Municipal Seat) * Xcanchakan * Telchaquillo * Lepan * Pixya

Landmarks

* Cenote Nayah

Architectural

*A church erected in honor of the Virgin de la Candelaria, a chapel in honor of the Santa Cruz and a church dedicated to the Virgin de la Asunción; all built since colonial times. * Hacienda Itzincab Cámara * Hacienda Oxtapacab * Hacienda Sotuta de Peón * Hacienda Xcanchakán

Archaeological

The archaeological site of

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 of ...

Famous persons

* Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Sanchez (Known in Texas as

Lorenzo de Zavala Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Sanchez (October 3, 1788 - November 15, 1836), known simply as Lorenzo de Zavala, was a Mexican and later Tejano physician, politician, diplomat and author. Born in Yucatán under Spanish rule, he was clo ...

)

External links

Tecoh on colonial-mexico.com

References

{{Yucatán Municipalities of Yucatán