The municipality of Tepechitlán is located in the southwestern portion of the Mexican state of

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

. It is located between 21º33'49" and 21º44'00" latitude north and 103º09'07" and 103º32'01" longitude west with an average altitude of approximately 1700 meters above sea level. The municipality covers an area of 584 square kilometers. To the north, it is bordered by the municipality of

Tlaltenango de Sánchez Román Tlaltenango, Mexican toponym, may mean: * Tlaltenango de Sánchez Román, Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates ...

, to the south by the municipality of Teúl de González Ortega, to the east by the municipalities of Jalpa and Apozol, to the west by the municipalities of Atolinga and

Florencia de Benito Juárez Benito Juárez Municipality is a Mexican municipality located in the southern extreme of the state of Zacatecas on the edge of the Canyon of Tlaltenango de Sánchez Román, Tlaltenango. Overview To the north, the municipality is bordered by the ...

as well as the state of Jalisco.

History

The name of the municipality of Tepechitlán'' derives from the

Caxcan The Caxcan were a partly nomadic indigenous people of Mexico. Under their leader, Tenamaztle, the Caxcan were allied with the Zacatecos against the Spaniards during the Mixtón Rebellion in 1540-42. During the rebellion, they were described as ...

word "tepezil" which refers to fertility, thus the name means fertile land. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish to the area, the town and its surrounding areas were inhabited by

Amerindians The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

of the

ethnic group. The town's first mention in Spanish documents appears in 1537. The town and its inhabitants were originally put under the trusteeship or " encomienda" of Pedro de Bobadilla. The trusteeship was then transferred to his mestizo son Francisco de Bobadilla and eventually was extinguished, as were many other similar trusteeships in the area due to ongoing uprisings of the local indigenous groups and the

Chichimeca War The Chichimeca War (1550–90) was a military conflict between the Spanish Empire and the Chichimeca Confederation established in the territories today known as the Central Mexican Plateau, called by the Conquistadores La Gran Chichimeca. Th ...

. In the early 17th century, the town was under the jurisdiccion of neighboring Tlaltenango and was primarily inhabited by indigenous people, though a few Spanish families had begun to settle in the area with the end of the Chichimeca War. Tepechitlán was officially recognized as a municipality in 1857.

Mateo Correa Magallanes Mateo Correa Magallanes (also known as Mateo Correa, Fr. Correa; July 23, 1866 – February 6, 1927) was a Knight of Columbus, of Council 2140. Correa was born at Tepechitlán, Zacatecas, Mexico. He attended the seminary at Zacatecas on a sch ...

who was canonized by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

was born in Tepechitlán in 1866.

References

Sources

*Enciclopedia de los Municipios de Zacatecas, State of Zacateca

*Insituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informátic

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tepechitlan Populated places in Zacatecas eo:Tepechitlán (komunumo) pt:Tepechitlán