Orizaba () is a city 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 ...

in the

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

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

. It is located 20 km west of its sister city Córdoba, and is adjacent to Río Blanco and Ixtaczoquitlán, on Federal Highways 180 and 190. The city had a 2005 census population of 117,273 and is almost coextensive with its small municipality, with only a few small areas outside the city. The municipality's population was 117,289 and it has an area of 27.97 km² (10.799 sq mi).

Naming

It is generally understood that the name ''Orizaba'' comes from a Hispanicized pronunciation of the

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 small ...

name ''Āhuilizāpan'' 'a: wi li sa: pan'' which means "place of pleasing waters." Another possibility, however, is the word Harish (

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway bet ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

, in 16th-century Spanish pronunciation), this place being the hometown of the first Spanish settlers (1521) of Orizaba. Harish or—in a simplified form—Ariz, with the addition (under the influence of the Arabic language) of the gentilic "i" and/or with the ending "aba", meaning fortification, would have become Ariziba or Arizaba, from which Orizaba would have derived. (The word Harish—in turn—is, according to some authors, linked to the capital of Tartessus and could refer to the biblical Tarshish. Its Semitic meaning could be "trading post" or "foundry site", since Tartessus was a major Phoenician center of tin commerce and bronze production.)

Geography and inhabitants

Orizaba has an unusually wet dry-winter

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

: Cwb). The town lies at 1,200 m. (4000 ft.), at the confluence of the Río Blanco with several tributaries, including the Río Orizaba, near the mouth of a large valley heading westward into the eastern

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...

. This location, at the bottom of the ascent into the mountains, is an important transition point along what has been for centuries the main trade route between

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 Veracruz on the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...

Coast. in 1938 the upper Río Blanco watershed was designated

Cañón del Río Blanco National Park Cañón del Río Blanco National Park is protected natural area in Mexico's Veracruz state. Geography Cañón del Río Blanco National Park covers an area of 488 km2. The park includes the upper watershed of the Río Blanco, where the river has ...

.UNEP-WCMC (2021). Protected Area Profile for Cañón del Río Blanco from the World Database of Protected Areas. Accessed 9 October 2021

/ref> The climate is generally pleasant, though often cloudy and rainy, and the soil of the Orizaba valley is extraordinarily fertile. Overlooking the valley from the north is the

Pico de Orizaba Pico de Orizaba, also known as Citlaltépetl (from Nahuatl = star, and = mountain), is an inactive stratovolcano, the highest mountain in Mexico and the third highest in North America, after Denali of Alaska in the United States and Moun ...

(Citlaltépetl), a volcano that, at 5,636 m. (18,490 ft.), is the highest mountain in Mexico and third highest in North America. In the town of Ixhuatlancillo north of Orizaba, and in a large mountainous area to the south (the

Sierra de Zongolica The Sierra Madre de Oaxaca is a mountain range in southern Mexico. It is primarily in the state of Oaxaca, and extends north into the states of Puebla and Veracruz. Geography The mountain range begins at Pico de Orizaba, and extends in a southeas ...

), live many thousands of people who speak a variant of

which is often called

Orizaba Nahuatl Orizaba Nahuatl is a native American language spoken in the southeastern Mexican state of Veracruz mostly in the area to the south of the city of Orizaba. It is also known as Orizaba Aztec and Náhuatl de la Sierra de Zongolica. It has 79 percent ...

( ISO code nlv).

History

Prehistory and conquest

Orizaba was already an important town at the time of the Spanish conquest, and it was in Orizaba that

La Malinche Marina or Malintzin ( 1500 – 1529), more popularly known as La Malinche , a Nahua woman from the Mexican Gulf Coast, became known for contributing to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519–1521), by acting as an interpreter, ad ...

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 ...

's interpreter and mistress, was married to the Spanish gentleman

Juan Jaramillo ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

. A plaque at the Temple of "The Immaculate Conception" in Huiloapan commemorates this event.

Colonial period

During the colonial period, Orizaba became an important city. On January 27, 1774, the Spanish king Carlos III conceded town status (''villa'') to Orizaba, and on November 29, 1830 Orizaba was declared a city.

Independence war

In October 1812,

José María Morelos José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of ...

captured the city for the insurgent army. In 1821 to the end of the war,

Agustín de Iturbide Agustín de Iturbide (; 27 September 178319 July 1824), full name Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu and also known as Agustín of Mexico, was a Mexican army general and politician. During the Mexican War of Independence, he built ...

was in Orizaba before and after the signature of the

Treaty of Córdoba The Treaty of Córdoba established Mexican independence from Spain at the conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence. It was signed on August 24, 1821 in Córdoba, Veracruz, Mexico. The signatories were the head of the Army of the Three Guara ...

in the neighbor city.

Independent period

When

Lucas Alamán Lucas Ignacio Alamán y Escalada ( Guanajuato, New Spain, October 18, 1792 – Mexico City, Mexico, June 2, 1853) was a Mexican scientist, conservative statesman, historian, and writer. He came from an elite Guanajuato family and was well-tr ...

established, in 1836, the first textile factory (''Cocolapan'') of Orizaba, the city started its economic life as an industrial city. In 1839, the newspaper ''La Luz'' was created and Veracruz Governor Francisco Hernández y Hernández gave the name of ''Veracruz-Llave'' (remembering the General Ignacio de la Llave, who was born in Orizaba) to the state. On May 8, 1874, Orizaba was declared the capital city of

by Governor Apolinar Castillo, but in 1878, the status was transferred to

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of whi ...

. During the government of

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

, orizaba was declared the most educated city in the state. In the late years of Díaz's go vernment, two important workers' strikes occurred, those of

Cananea Cananea is a city in the Mexican state of Sonora, Northwestern Mexico. It is the seat of the Municipality of Cananea, in the vicinity of the U.S−Mexico border. The population of the city was 31,560 as recorded by the 2010 census. The pop ...

and Río Blanco, the latter taking place in Orizaba and being an important prelude to the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

. The American

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

transport ship

USS Orizaba (ID-1536) USS ''Orizaba'' (ID-1536/AP-24) was a transport ship for the United States Navy in both World War I and World War II. She was the sister ship of but the two were not part of a ship class. In her varied career, she was also known as USAT ''Ori ...

was named after the city.

Economy

The Orizaba's area (including the municipalities of Ixtaczoquitlán, Río Blanco, Nogales and Cd. Mendoza) economy has grown significantly in the last years due to the safety of the area, being of great confidence for national and foreign investors who wants to establish in a safe place. Another important reason is the presence of recognised Universities like

Universidad Veracruzana Universidad Veracruzana (Spanish for ''University of Veracruz'') is a public autonomous university located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Established in 1944, the university is one of the most important in the southeast region of México. Its ...

, Instituto Tecnológico de Orizaba or Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Campus Central de Veracruz en Córdoba. The industry is mainly focused in the following areas: breweries, paper, cement, pharmaceutical, iron and steel sector, soft drinks and food, leather and shoemaker companies among others. Also in the last years the commercial area experiments a significant growth due to the opening of new Malls & Major Retailers. It is one of the cheapest cities to live and invest in México, as Mercer consultory published in the "Estudio de costo de la vida nacional 2012"; this study includes 42 localities of México, and was done comparing 182 products and services. The inquiry also disclose that Orizaba's Valley will grow 10% in 2013, due to the lack of pollution, existence of enough water and other points like price of housing.

Main sights

The old city hall ''El Palacio de Hierro'' (The Iron Palace) in the centre of the city was designed by

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (born Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; ; ; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway ...

and built from 1891 to 1894. Built with 600 tons of Belgian steel, its parts were shipped from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

during the ''Porfiriato'' (the government of

, 1876–1911), to be assembled in Orizaba. The palace cost 100,000 pesos (gold), equivalent to about 21.3 million pesos or 1.1 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

as of 2019. It was Don Manuel Carrillo Tablas who not only loaned the money to the city, but also had to pay the additional cost of unloading the palace from the port and having it reassembled at its present location, the Plaza de Armas. Unfortunately, Don Manuel died New Year's Eve of 1899 without ever having received a cent from the city for his loan. He was a very charitable man, though, having donated the land where the present Cathedral of Orizaba now stands, as well as the adjacent shopping center known as "El Mercado." El Palacio de Hierro served as the City Hall until the city felt it was not large enough for the growing needs of the local government and therefore moved to its present location. Orizaba has an important industrial life. There is, for example, the Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma company (a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

), which was established in 1896 in Orizaba. BIORI Jardin Botanico de Orizaba- Orchid House

Other attractions for visitors include: * The Teleférico or cable-car to the top of Cerro Borrego, which offers views of Pico de Orizaba. A trail to the top of Cerro Borrego is also available. In either case the mountain is most visible in the morning when the eastern sun lights it. * Río Orizaba, a river that flows through the city, is home to Eco Parque Río which has many wild and domesticated animals that can be seen during a walk along its course. A trail known as the Riverwalk has been built along it. * The BIORI Jardín Botánico de Orizaba or Orizaba Botanical Gardens has a variety of plants and outdoor art as well as an entire building devoted to growing orchids.

Monuments and buildings

*The Iron Palace *El Palacio Municipal (''The City Hall'') *The Church of Nuestra Señora Del Carmen *The Church of ''La Concordia'' *State Art Museum *Artisan market (Mercado de Artesanías) *Mercado Cerritos, NW Orizaba and Mercado Melchor Ocampo, centro. *Centro Orizaba park (Parque Castillo) and the Theater there has almost nightly free plays or music. *Huge Rock in the Panteon (municipal cemetery).

Notable Orizabeños (people from Orizaba)

Sara García Sara García Hidalgo (8 September 1895 – 21 November 1980) was a Mexican actress who made her biggest mark during the "Golden Age of Mexican cinema". During the 1940s and 1950s, she often played the part of a no-nonsense but lovable grandm ...

* Ignacio de la Llave * Salvador Moreno Manzano (1916-1999), composer, art historian and painter *

Francisco Gabilondo Soler Francisco Gabilondo Soler (October 6, 1907, Orizaba, Veracruz Mexico – December 14, 1990, Texcoco, State of Mexico) was a Mexican composer and performer of children's songs. He recorded and performed those songs under the name of '' Cri-Cri: El ...

* José Antonio Gómez Rosas * Humberto Vélez *

Evita Muñoz Eva María Muñoz Ruíz (November 26, 1936 – August 23, 2016), known professionally as Evita Muñoz "Chachita", was a Mexican actress and comedian. Her professional career began in 1941, when she was only four years old, and she continued perf ...

a.k.a."Chachita" * Ramón Arnaud * Gilberto Loyo

References

*(Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Historia Verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España, Mexico, Pedro Robredo, 1939.) *(Francisco Alvarez de Icaza, Diccionario Autobiografico de Conquistadores y Pobladores de la Nueva España, Madrid, Imprenta de "El Adelantado de Segovia", 1923.) *(Victor M. Alvarez, Diccionario de Invasores, Mexico, D.F., INAH, 1975.) *(Peter Boyd-Bowman, Indice Geobiografico de Mas de 56 Mil Pobladores de la America Hispanica, I: 1493–1519, Mexico, Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1985.) *(Maria del Rosario Casellas Gonzalez, Gonzalo de Sandoval, Segundo Capitan de la Conquista de la Nueva España, Tesis, Departamento de Historia, UNAM, Mexico, 1969.) *(Diccionario Porrua de Historia, Biografia y Geografia de Mexico, Mexico, Editorial Porrua, 1964.) *(Enciclopedia Espasa-Calpe, Barcelona, Espasa Calpe, 1928.) *(Enciclopedia General de Andalucia, España, C&T Editores, c.2010.) *(Gran Enciclopedia de Andalucia, Sevilla, Promociones Culturales Andaluzas, no date.) *(Joaquin Arroniz, Ensayo de una Historia de Orizaba—original edition from 1867--, Mexico, D.F., Fundacion Miguel Aleman, Instituto Veracruzano de la Cultura, 2004.) *(Jose Maria Naredo, Estudio Geografico, Historico y Estadistico del Canton y de la Ciudad de Orizaba, Orizaba, Imprenta del Hospicio, 1898.) *(Carlos Calero, Orizaba, Editorial Citlaltepetl, 1970.) *(Ernesto Lemoine Villicaña, Documentos y Mapas para la Geografia Historica de Orizaba, 1690–1800, Mexico, D.F., Archivo General de la Nacion, 1962.) *(Alberto Gochicoa Gomez, Las Cronicas de Orizaba, Mexico, c.2009.) *("Traza, ocupacion del espacio y segregacion; la morfologia urbana de Orizaba en el siglo XIX", Eulalia Ribera Carbu, in the book "De Veracruz a Puebla, un Itinerario Historico entre la Colonia y el Porfiriato", Carlos Contreras Cruz y Claudia Patricia Pardo Hernandez, editors, Instituto de Investigaciones Dr. Jose Maria Luis Mora, Mexico.) *(Jose Antonio Calderon Quijano, Historia de las Fortificaciones en Nueva España, Madrid, Escuela de Estudios Hispanoamericanos, 1953.) *(Sergio Florescano Mayet, El Camino Mexico-Veracruz en la Epoca Colonial, Xalapa, Centro de Investigaciones Historicas, Universidad Veracruzana, 1987.) *(The Anchor Bible Dictionary, New York, Doubleday, 1992.) *(Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, Grand Rapids, Michigan, B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2000.) *(Encyclopaedia Judaica, Jerusalem, 1972.) *(The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Chicago, 1990s.) *(Ethelia Ruiz Medrano, Gobierno y Sociedad en Nueva España.) *(Ethelia Ruiz Medrano, Reshaping New Spain.) *(Robert Himmerich Valencia, The Encomenderos of New Spain, 1521–1555.) *(Alvin Eustis, Francois Chevalier, Land and Society in Colonial Mexico.) *(John Michael Francis, Iberia and the Americas—Culture, Politics and History, Vol. 1.) *(David Marles, Wars of the Americas—A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World.)
Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005
INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
Veracruz
Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México

External links

Ayuntamiento Constitucional de Orizaba
Official website
Pico de Orizaba on BivouacOrizaba Regional Portal
Culture, Tourism, Pictures, Maps & More.
Museo de Arte del Estado de Veracruz
Art Museum of the State of Veracruz (Only in Spanish)
Pueblos mágicos de Veracruz
{{Authority control Populated places in Veracruz Nahua settlements Pueblos Mágicos