Temascaltepec de González (formally: Temascaltepec de González, for Plutarco González) is a city and seat of the municipality of

Temascaltepec Temascaltepec is a municipality located in the Ixtapan Region of the State of Mexico in Mexico. Temascaltepec has an area of 547.5 km2. It borders the municipalities of Valle de Bravo, Amanalco de Becerra, Tejupilco, San Simón de Guerrero, ...

located in south of the State of Mexico 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 United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It is southeast of

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. With a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census, Toluca is the fifth most populous city in Mexico. The city f ...

and , from

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. Temascaltepec comes from the

Náhuatl 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 ...

"temazcalli," which means "steam bath," and "tepetl," which means "hill." The Matlatzincas named the area "Cocalostoc," which means 'cave of crows'.

History

The first people known to live in Temascaltepec area were the prehispanic group Matlatzincas and probably founded the village were the modern town stands. During the Spanish conquest, it was delegated to Andrés de Tapia in 1556, with its first church built in 1559. The town grew after the discovery of

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

deposits in 1545, and the area was a rich provider of minerals, including silver during the colonial era until after the

Mexican War of 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 ...

. In 1858, by decree of the state government, Temascaltepec was elevated to the category of town, and in 1861 was named Temascaltepec de González in honor of Plutarco González, a leader in the time of

La Reforma ''La Reforma'' ( en, The Reform), refers to a pivotal set of laws, including a new constitution, that were enacted in Mexico during the 1850s after the Plan of Ayutla overthrew the dictatorship of Santa Anna. They were intended as modernizing m ...

. However, it is still known simply as Temascaltepec. The population of the town as of 2005 was 2,253.

Notable residents

*José Mariano Muciño Juárez - naturalist (1757– ) *Fernando de Portugal - miner *Lic. Hernando Caballero - miner *Gonzalo Castañeda - doctor, teacher, writer (1867–1947) *Reynaldo Escobar Castañeda - teacher, doctor, writer (1897–1960) *Alfredo Borboa Reyes - lawyer, municipal chronicler (1930– )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temascaltepec de Gonzalez Temascaltepec Populated places in the State of Mexico Municipality seats in the State of Mexico Nahua settlements Matlatzinca settlements