Tepoztlán () is a town in the central
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 ...
of
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 ...
. It is located at in the heart of the Tepoztlán Valley. The town serves as the seat of government for the municipality of the same name. The town had a population of 14,130 inhabitants, while the municipality reported 41,629 inhabitants in the 2010 national census.
The town is a popular tourist destination near
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 ...
. The town is famous for the remains of
El Tepozteco
El Tepozteco is an archaeological site in the Mexican state of Morelos. It consists of a small temple to Tepoztēcatl, the Aztec god of the alcoholic beverage ''pulque''.Canto Aguilar 1998
In the middle Postclassic Period, various terraces and a s ...
temple built on top of the nearby
Tepozteco Mountain
Sierra de Tepoztlan or Tepozteco Mountain is located near the village of Tepoztlán, a ''Pueblo Mágico'', in Morelos, Mexico. The mountain range, "vulnerable to landslides, erosions, and flooding", contains only small areas of land which are app ...
, as well as for the exotic ice cream flavors prepared by the townspeople.
Tepoztlán was named a "
Pueblo Mágico
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
" (or ''magic town'') in 2002 but its title was removed in 2009 for failure to maintain the requirements. In 2010 Tepoztlán addressed these problems and recovered the Pueblo Mágico title.
Etymology
Tepoztlán is derived from
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 ...
and means "place of abundant copper" or "place of the broken rocks." This is derived from the words ''tepoz-tli'' (
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
) and ''tlan'' ("place of/place of abundance").
Climate
The climate around the Tepoztlán Sierra (where ''el Tepozteco'' is located) shows
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...
as well as some
subtropical
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
variations. The rainy season starts during the summer and ends at the beginning of autumn. Precipitation reaches /yr in the Tepoztlán Valley and up to /yr in the mountains.
Economy
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 ...
specially growing of
maize
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 ...
, chili and tomatoes,
livestock growing. Traditional pottery and handicrafts (for which there is a lively weekend market or ''tianguis'').
Tourism: Nowadays Tepoztlán gets its most important income through tourism. People visit the town for its authentic traditional environment, along with the pyramid and several communities with ecological or progressive thinking.
Real estate: The legal system that regulates possession of land in Tepoztlán is communal. Under that legal framework, land in Tepoztlán cannot be purchased. In case of problems, neither financial nor judicial institutions can support ownership claims.
Meztitla Scout Camp School
The Meztitla Scout Camp School (''Campo Escuela Scout Meztitla'') is the national Scout camp and school owned by the Asociación de Scouts de México, A.C., located in the Central Highlands of Mexico, northeast of the municipality of Tepoztlán ...
is owned by the
Asociación de Scouts de México, A.C., located near
Tepozteco
El Tepozteco is an archaeological site in the Mexican state of Morelos. It consists of a small temple to Tepoztēcatl, the Aztec god of the alcoholic beverage ''pulque''.Canto Aguilar 1998
In the middle Postclassic Period, various terraces and a ...
mountain. Meztitla is the National Scout Camp School. Although Meztitla is frequented by Scouts of Mexico and from around the world, it is also open to the general public.
History
According to myth, Amatlán, in the municipality of Tepoztlan is the birthplace of ''Ce Acatl'', later known as
Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl
Cē Ācatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl (''Our Prince One-Reed Precious Serpent'') (c. 895–947) is a mythologised figure appearing in 16th-century accounts of Nahua historical traditions, where he is identified as a ruler in the 10th century of the ...
, and who may be the possible historical basis of the
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
n god
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl (, ; Spanish: ''Quetzalcóatl'' ; nci-IPA, Quetzalcōātl, ket͡saɬˈkoːaːt͡ɬ (Modern Nahuatl pronunciation), in honorific form: ''Quetzalcōātzin'') is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nahu ...
over 1200 years ago, the feathered serpent god widely worshipped in ancient Mexico.
It has not yet been possible to determine who first inhabited the area. The earliest findings of pottery and other ceramic utensils date back to approximately 1500
BCE
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...
.
At the top of a hill, there is a small pyramid devoted to
Ometochtli
In Aztec mythology, Ometochtli is the collective or generic name of various individual deities and supernatural figures associated with pulque ('), an alcoholic beverage derived from the fermented sap of the ''maguey'' plant. By the Late Postclassi ...
-
Tepoztēcatl
In Aztec mythology, (from "workable metal" and "person" ) or Tēzcatzontēcatl (from "mirror", "four hundred" and "person" ) was the god of pulque, of drunkenness and fertility. The deity was also known by his calendrical name, ("t ...
, the supposed inventor of
pulque
Pulque (; nci, metoctli), or octli, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. It is traditional in central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, a rather viscous co ...
, a beer-like drink made from the maguey plant. The pyramid, called
El Tepozteco
El Tepozteco is an archaeological site in the Mexican state of Morelos. It consists of a small temple to Tepoztēcatl, the Aztec god of the alcoholic beverage ''pulque''.Canto Aguilar 1998
In the middle Postclassic Period, various terraces and a s ...
, dates from the Post-Classic Period (900–1521 CE) and has inscriptions dating from 1452 and 1502.
During the Spanish Conquest (1521),
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...
is said to have ordered the town razed after the refusal of the town leaders to meet him. This event was chronicled by
Bernal Díaz del Castillo
Bernal Díaz del Castillo ( 1492 – 3 February 1584) was a Spanish conquistador, who participated as a soldier in the conquest of the Aztec Empire under Hernán Cortés and late in his life wrote an account of the events. As an experienced ...
in
The Conquest of New Spain
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
. The monastery was built by the Dominicans between 1555–1580, and in 1993 was declared
Patrimonio de la Humanidad by the UNESCO.
Surrealist painter
Wolfgang Paalen
Wolfgang Robert Paalen (July 22, 1905 in Vienna, Austria – September 24, 1959 in Taxco, Mexico) was an Austrian-Mexican painter, sculptor, and art philosopher. A member of the Abstraction-Création group from 1934 to 1935, he joined the infl ...
lived and worked in Tepoztlàn during his last Mexican period (1954–59).
The hiking trail the
Sierra de Tepoztlan
Sierra de Tepoztlan or Tepozteco Mountain is located near the village of Tepoztlán, a ''Pueblo Mágico'', in Morelos, Mexico. The mountain range, "vulnerable to landslides, erosions, and flooding", contains only small areas of land which are ap ...
to the pyramid was closed temporally after the
2017 Puebla earthquake
The 2017 Puebla earthquake struck at 13:14 CDT (18:14 UTC) on 19 September 2017 with an estimated magnitude of and strong shaking for about 20 seconds. Its epicenter was about south of the city of Puebla, Mexico. The earthquake caused d ...
. 203 homes were destroyed and 744 were damaged in the municipality.
In response to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
The COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 ().
The virus was confirmed to have reached Mexico in February 2020. Howe ...
, Tepoztlan blocked the entrances to the community. As of April 27, 2020, two cases were reported in Tepoztlán. Schools and many businesses were closed from mid March until June 1. On July 2, Tepoztlán reported five infections but no deaths from the virus; the reopening of the state was pushed back until at least June 13. Tepoztlán reported 75 cases, 58 recuperations, and nine deaths from the virus as of August 31. One hundred thirty-three cases were reported on December 27, 2020. The community health center was briefly closed when employees protested against the lack of vaccines; it reopened January 21 after being promised vaccines.
A fire that burned of forest from May 19 to 22, 2020, was allegedly provoked by a 25-year-old woman as a stunt to get on
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
. The fire threatened not only the forest but also the town of Santo Domingo Ostopulco . She could be sentenced to ten years of prison. The ''Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente'' (Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection, PROFEPA) says it will seek financial and penal compensation.
The Legend of Tepozteco
There are several versions of the story of
Tepozteco
El Tepozteco is an archaeological site in the Mexican state of Morelos. It consists of a small temple to Tepoztēcatl, the Aztec god of the alcoholic beverage ''pulque''.Canto Aguilar 1998
In the middle Postclassic Period, various terraces and a ...
. One that describes a man by the last name of Tepoztón who is born to a laundress and ends up working in
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 ...
, Mexico where he is converted to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. As a form of payment for some work he did helping to hang a bell at one of the Catholic churches, he receives 3 boxes and is instructed not to open them. However, his curiosity wins and he opens the boxes. Opening the boxes let out the birds that were inside which acted as a symbol of the riches and wellbeing of the
people
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
.
Another version of the story refers to Tepozteco as a person who was baptized and introduced to the Catholic Church on September 8, 1532 in the Axitla River, at the base of the mountain where a statue of
Ometochtli
In Aztec mythology, Ometochtli is the collective or generic name of various individual deities and supernatural figures associated with pulque ('), an alcoholic beverage derived from the fermented sap of the ''maguey'' plant. By the Late Postclassi ...
was found. A young 22-year-old missionary named
Fray Domingo de la anunciación, baptized Tepozteco after having thrown the idol, worshiped by pilgrims from Chiapas and Guatemala, off a cliff.
Four important gentlemen from surrounding areas:
Yautepec,
Oaxtepec
Oaxtepec is a town within the municipality of Yautepec and the Cuautla metropolitan area in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Morelos. Its main industry is tourism, mostly aimed at the inhabitants of nearby Mexico City, and the town posses ...
, Tlayacapan, and Cuauhnahuac, accuse Tepozteco of having betrayed their gods and they challenge him. He defeats them and with the strength of his speech, convinces them of all the goodness of the new religion.
Of this legend, let's point out that one of the four natural elements is spoken of; the air, which is attributed with thinking or reasoning. We see that this characteristic is brought up when
Tepoztecatl, comes out on top of every difficult situation that he faces. Reasonably, he boasts that he is son of
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl (, ; Spanish: ''Quetzalcóatl'' ; nci-IPA, Quetzalcōātl, ket͡saɬˈkoːaːt͡ɬ (Modern Nahuatl pronunciation), in honorific form: ''Quetzalcōātzin'') is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nahu ...
, "God of the Wind," which allows him to be protected by him at every moment.
The municipality
The municipality is one of 17 municipalities that
border Mexico City. It borders the
Milpa Alta
Milpa Alta is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. It lies in the southeast corner of the nation's capital, bordering the State of Mexico and Morelos. It is the least populated, second largest and most rural of all the boroughs ...
borough at the south side of the capital city. Rogelio Torres Ortega of ''Juntos Haremos Historia'' (Together we will make history coalition) was elected Presidente Municipal (mayor) in the election of July 1, 2018.
Towns and villages
The largest localities (cities, towns, and villages) are:
Attractions & Festivals
*Carnaval in Tepoztlan is the largest in
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 ...
. It takes place for three days before
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent (the six weeks of penitence before Easter). It is observed by Catholics in the Rom ...
.
*September 8. Fiestas to honor ''Tepozteco'' and ''Virgin of the Nativity'' in Tepoztlan.
*''San Juan Tlacotenco'' is located at an altitude of 2,350 meters above sea level, 5 kilometers north of Tepoztlan, with exuberant forests within the ''Chichinahutzin Biological Corridor'' and the
Tepozteco National Park (est. 1937). The foundation of the town dates from around 1100 AD, by the arrival of the Nahuatl-speaking immigrants. San Juan was the stop on the Mexico City-Cuernavaca rail line, from 1897 to 1997, that is closest to Tepoztlan. In 1993 archaeological pieces dating from 1028 CE were found in a nearby hill called ''Chimalacatepetl''; these are located in a small museum that opened in 1995. The feast of
St. John is celebrated on June 24.
Spelunkers
Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology is ...
will enjoy exploring the ''Cueva del Diablo'' (Devil's Cave), ''Cueva del Ferrocarril'' (Railroad Cave), and other caves in the area.
*''Santa Catalina'' is west of Tepoztlan. The church, dedicated to St.
Catherine of Alexandria
Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, wh ...
, has a delicately-decorated bell tower of two levels. St. Catherine's feast day is November 24.
*''Amatlán'' is east of Tepoztlán. The mythical birthplace of the god
Quetzálcoatl is located by an exuberant waterfall a short hike out of town. Amatlán has two festivals during the year: May 29 in honor of Quetzalcoatl, and June 22 for the Feast of
Santa Magdalena
Santa Magdalena, officially the Municipality of Santa Magdalena ( Waray Sorsogon: ''Bungto san Santa Magdalena''; war, Bungto han Santa Magdalena, tl, Bayan ng Santa Magdalena), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Sorsogon, Philippines ...
.
*''Museo
Carlos Pellicer
Carlos Pellicer Cámara (10 January 1897 – 16 February 1977) was part of the first wave of modernist Mexican poets and was active in the promotion of Mexican art, pictures, and literature. An enthusiastic traveler, his work is filled with ...
'' located behind the monastery, is an archaeological museum that opened in 1965.
*
Meztitla Scout Camp School
The Meztitla Scout Camp School (''Campo Escuela Scout Meztitla'') is the national Scout camp and school owned by the Asociación de Scouts de México, A.C., located in the Central Highlands of Mexico, northeast of the municipality of Tepoztlán ...
is a campground/school owned and operated since 1956 by the
Asociación de Scouts de México, Asociación Civil
The Asociación de Scouts de México, Asociación Civil (ASMAC) is a Scouting association in Mexico. ASMAC was formed in 1920 and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement on August 26, 1926. It was registered as a Civil ...
. The name means, ''Place near the moon''; besides hosting activities for Scouts from around the world, it is open to the general public for hiking, camping, and rappel. It is located in Santo Domingo Ocuitco, west of Tepoztlan.
Pyramid of Tepozteco
The archaeological site of
El Tepozteco
El Tepozteco is an archaeological site in the Mexican state of Morelos. It consists of a small temple to Tepoztēcatl, the Aztec god of the alcoholic beverage ''pulque''.Canto Aguilar 1998
In the middle Postclassic Period, various terraces and a s ...
is centered on the 13th-century temple dedicated to
Tepoztēcatl
In Aztec mythology, (from "workable metal" and "person" ) or Tēzcatzontēcatl (from "mirror", "four hundred" and "person" ) was the god of pulque, of drunkenness and fertility. The deity was also known by his calendrical name, ("t ...
, god of
pulque
Pulque (; nci, metoctli), or octli, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. It is traditional in central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, a rather viscous co ...
. The sanctuary is located at 2,310 meters above sea level (7,579 feet) while the main plaza of Tepoztlán is at 1,715 m (5,627 ft).
A rustic trail leads up to the sanctuary, climbing 595 m (1,952 ft) along 2 km (1 1/4 miles) of length. Due to the steep climb and rough terrain, people take anywhere from 20 minutes to three hours to make the journey.
From the summit there are views of the town of Tepoztlan and the Valley of Cuernavaca.
As the national park is located within the ''Chichinautzin Biological Corridor'' there is plenty of rich flora and fauna.
Museo Ex Convento de Tepoztlán (Museo de la Natividad)
The Tepoztlán Ex Convento Museum was built by the Tepoztecan Indians under the orders of the
Dominican friars
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 1555 and 1580, dedicated to the
Virgin of the Nativity. In 1993,
INAH created a restoration project and in 1994 it was declared a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
. This site is the parish of the Nativity and the Museum and Historical Documentation Center of Tepoztlán.
This monastery consists of a large atrium that has served as a cemetery and park. There are four ''capillas posas'' in each of the corners, although only the ones on the north side are well-preserved. The ''capillas posas'' were invented in
Nueva España
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...
for the instruction of large crowds of Indigenous, and their use later spread to
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
,
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
, and
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
.
[Gallo S., Joaquín. ''Tepoztlan: Personajes, Descripciones y Sucedidos''. Talleres Gráficos de Cultura, Mexico. (2nd edition, 1990) p 58]
See also
*
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl (, ; Spanish: ''Quetzalcóatl'' ; nci-IPA, Quetzalcōātl, ket͡saɬˈkoːaːt͡ɬ (Modern Nahuatl pronunciation), in honorific form: ''Quetzalcōātzin'') is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nahu ...
*
Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl
Cē Ācatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl (''Our Prince One-Reed Precious Serpent'') (c. 895–947) is a mythologised figure appearing in 16th-century accounts of Nahua historical traditions, where he is identified as a ruler in the 10th century of the ...
*
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 ...
*
Meztitla Scout Camp School
The Meztitla Scout Camp School (''Campo Escuela Scout Meztitla'') is the national Scout camp and school owned by the Asociación de Scouts de México, A.C., located in the Central Highlands of Mexico, northeast of the municipality of Tepoztlán ...
*
List of people from Morelos, Mexico
The following are people who were born, raised, or who gained significant prominence for living in the Mexican state of Morelos:
''This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by exp ...
References
Other sources
Encyclopedia of Mexican Municipalities: Tepoztlán- In Spanish.
External links
In Spanish.
Ex-convent of Dominico de la Natividad .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tepoztlan
Municipalities of Morelos
Populated places in Morelos
Pueblos Mágicos
Nahua settlements