Santo Tomás de los Plátanos also known as Nuevo Santo Tomás de los Plátanos is a town and
municipal seat
A municipal seat (Spanish: ; ) is the administrative center and seat of government of a municipality or civil parish, with other villages or towns subordinated. The term is used in Brazil, Colombia,Santo Tomás, located in the center-west of
Mexico State
The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name o ...
, in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. It is approximately 185 km from
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
, and 107 km from
Toluca
Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...
.
The town
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 Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller pop ...
name for the area was Caltepec, but as early as 1631, records referred to the village here as Santo Tomás, which the municipality is still called. Don Vasco de Quiroga added "de los Plátanos" to the name of the village because of all the banana plantations nearby, but the name was not official until 1975. Few records exist from the colonial period, but the area was under the jurisdiction of San Martín
Otzoloapan
Otzoloapan Municipality is a municipality located at the southeast of the State of Mexico. The name is from the Náhuatl 'Oceloapan' which means "river of lynxes". It is located in the southwest part of the state bordering the state of Michoacán. ...
in the 19th century.
The current town of Santo Tomás de los Platanos (Saint Thomas of the bananas) was not the original seat of the municipality of Santo Tomás. The original Santo Tomás was flooded due to a hydroelectric dam that was built in 1945. This dam and its hydroelectric plant are of great economic importance to the region. Curiously, the church tower of the old town can still be seen rising above the water of the reservoir. The current Santo Tomas has a central garden surrounded by trees and a church.
The population of the town as of 2005 was 2,823 people.
The municipality
As municipal seat, Santo Tomás de los Plátanos has governing jurisdiction over the following communities: San José Barbechos (Los Barbechos), Cieneguillas, La Laguna, El Ocotal, Potrero de Abajo (Colonia Guadalupe), Potrero de Arriba (La Ceiba), Ojo de Agua, Rincón Grande, Salitre de Cal (El Zapote), Salitre Terreros, San Miguel San de Mialma, San Pedro el Chico, San Pedro el Grande, San Pedro Ixtapantongo (Ixtapantongo), Santa Bárbara, Poblado de Santo Tomás (El Puerto San Isidro), Tacuitapan, Pueblo Viejo, Rincón Vivero (El Maracaná), El Llano, Las Canoas, El Jocoyol (San José el Jocoyol), El Salitre Bramador, El Aguacate, El Anono, Potrero de Abajo (Granadillo), El Sifón, Las Fincas, El Pedregal, Rincón Chico, Los Nogales, El Aguacate, El Plan, and Frontón Vivero.
It has a territorial extension of 110.91 square kilometers, and the population total for the municipality in 2005 was 8,888. It borders with the municipalities of Ixtapan del Oro,
Valle de Bravo
Valle de Bravo () is one of 125 Municipalities of Mexico, municipalities in the State of Mexico, Mexico. The largest town and municipal seat is the town of Valle de Bravo. It is located on the shore of Lake Avándaro, approximately 156 km ( ...
and Otzoloapan, as well as the state of
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...
to the west.
The climate of Santo Tomás de los Platanos is sub tropical, with a rainy season in summer. The principal ecosystems consist of varied vegetation, from lowland jungle, temperate forest and agricultural land, although many forests here have suffered damage. The fruits that are grown in Santo Tomas de los Platanos are lemons, oranges,
papaya
The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus '' Carica'' of the family Caricaceae, and also the name of its fruit. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within ...
s, bananas,
mango
A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...
, coffee,
sapodilla
''Manilkara zapota'', commonly known as sapodilla (), sapote, chicozapote, chicoo, chicle, naseberry, nispero, or
soapapple, among other names, is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico and Central America. An example natural occurrence is ...
,
guava
Guava ( ), also known as the 'guava-pear', is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava '' Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), nativ ...
,
tamarind
Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...
, and
chayote
Chayote (; previously placed in the obsolete genus ''Sechium''), also known as christophine, mirliton, güisquil, and choko, is an edible plant belonging to the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. This fruit was first cultivated in Mesoamerica between ...
s.
From 18 to 22 of December, the inhabitants of Santo Tomás celebrate the feast day of
Saint Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle (; , meaning 'the Twin'), also known as Didymus ( 'twin'), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Thomas is commonly known as "doubting Thomas" because he initially doubted the resurrection of ...
. On October 14, they celebrate the municipality's anniversary in 1870.
People of Santo Tomas produce stuffed animals, washcloths, tablecloths, and napkins. There are also bread bakeries. However, the primary economic activity is cattle-raising.
The typical food of Santo Tomas is turkey
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole"
* Golden mole, southern African mammals
* Marsupial mole
Marsupial moles, the Notoryctidae family, are two species of highly specialized marsupial mammals that are found i ...
and
tamale
A tamale, in Spanish language, Spanish , is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of ''masa'', a dough made from nixtamalization, nixtamalized maize, corn, which is steaming, steamed in a corn husk or Banana leaf, banana leaves. The wrapping ...
s, which are served in family gatherings, weddings and
quinceañera
In Mexico, Mexican and other Latin American cultures, it is customary to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday. In Spanish language, Spanish, the girl celebrating her 15th birthday is called a ; in English language, English, primarily in the Unite ...
s.
Santo Tomás de los Plátanos offers great views to its visitors, and a great option to practice rappeling, take long walks, and provides special places to camp and swimming.
The seat has 46 schools, which are attended by 128 teachers. For the rest of the municipality, it depends on state and federal support for the other 24 communities to teach kindergarten, elementary school, and high school, with 2,081 students in 155 groups with 97 classrooms. There is a technical school in the Casa de Cultura (House of Culture) called “Santiago Santana Avalos”. In Santa Barbara, there is televised high school for the students of that area. The illiteracy rate is about 18.53%, which is considered high.