Taxco el Viejo | |
|---|---|
Town | |
  Taxco el Viejo Location in Mexico  Taxco el Viejo Taxco el Viejo (Mexico) | |
| Coordinates: 18°28′59″N99°35′06″W / 18.483°N 99.585°W | |
| Country |  Mexico |
| State | Guerrero |
| Municipality | Taxco de Alarcón |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 3,172 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central) |
Taxco el Viejo (Old Taxco) is a town in the Mexican state of Guerrero. In 2010, it had a population of 3,172. [1] It is located approximately ten kilometers south of the city of Taxco.
The name Taxco is most likely derived from the Nahuatl place name Tlachco, which means "place of the ballgame". However, one interpretation has the name coming from the word tatzco which means "where the father of the water is", due to the high waterfall near the town center on Atatzin Mountain.
Before the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico, Taxco el Viejo was known simply as "Taxco". In pre-Hispanic times, this village was the most important in the area as it was the seat of the Aztec governor who presided over tribute collection in the surrounding seven districts. [2] The modern Spanish city of Taxco was founded by Hernán Cortés in an area previously known as Tetelcingo. [2] [3]
The Ex Hacienda de San Juan Bautista is a colonial silver mining hacienda in Taxco el Viejo. The first thing that makes it notable is that the main structure is built in the style of a medieval castle. This structure was built in 1543 and was ordered by Hernán Cortés, but he never saw it built as he returned to Spain for good in 1540. His son, Martín Cortés, 2nd Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca, inherited it but he probably never set foot in it as he arrived to Mexico in 1563 and was practically deported back to Spain in 1566. Like the "El Chorrillo", it used large quantities of water and mercury to extract silver from mined ore, but this method eventually contaminated the large reserves of groundwater in this part of Guerrero. The estate is now the home of the Regional School of Earth Sciences of the Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero. [4] This facility has a small museum with fossils and geological specimens. [5]
Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico in Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities. The state has a population of about 3.5 million people. It is located in southwest Mexico and is bordered by the states of Michoacán to the north and west, the State of Mexico and Morelos to the north, Puebla to the northeast and Oaxaca to the east. In addition to the capital city, Chilpancingo and the largest city Acapulco, other cities in Guerrero include Petatlán, Ciudad Altamirano, Taxco, Iguala, Ixtapa, and Zihuatanejo. Today, it is home to a number of indigenous communities, including the Nahuas, Mixtecs, Tlapanecs, Amuzgos, and formerly Cuitlatecs. It is also home to communities of Afro-Mexicans in the Costa Chica region.
Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. Along with Chalcaltzingo, it is likely one of the origins of the Mesoamerican civilization. Olmec works of art, currently displayed in the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City were found in the Gualupita III archeological site.
Taxco de Alarcón is a small city and administrative center of Taxco de Alarcón Municipality located in the Mexican state of Guerrero. Taxco is located in the north-central part of the state, 36 kilometres from the city of Iguala, 135 kilometres from the state capital of Chilpancingo and 170 kilometres southwest of Mexico City.
La Antigua is a municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city of José Cardel serves as the municipal seat. La Antigua is regarded as the first real Spanish town in Mexico.
Tlaxcala, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala, is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipalities and the capital city is Tlaxcala de Xicohténcatl.
Tepalcingo is a town in the Mexican state of Morelos. It at 18°26′N98°18′W. The name Nahuatl root tekpa-tl (flint), tzintli, tzinco, so in sum it means tekpatzinko "down or behind the flints".
Zihuatanejo, and/or Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Guerrero. It was known by 18th-century English mariners as Chequetan and/or Seguataneo. Politically the city belongs to the municipality of Zihuatanejo de Azueta in the western part of Guerrero, but both are commonly referred to as Zihuatanejo. It is on the Pacific Coast, about 240 km northwest of Acapulco and 411 km further south in latitude than Honolulu, Hawaii. Zihuatanejo belongs to a section of the Mexican Pacific Coast known as the Costa Grande. This town has been developed as a tourist attraction along with the modern tourist resort of Ixtapa, 5 km (3.1 mi) away. However, Zihuatanejo has kept its traditional town feel. The town is located on a well-protected bay which is popular with private boat owners during the winter months.
Otumba or Otumba de Gómez Farías is a town and municipal seat of the municipality of Otumba located in the northeast of the State of Mexico, just northeast of Mexico City. Historically, this area is best known as the site of the Battle of Otumba and as an important crossroads during the colonial period where incoming viceroys ceremoniously were handed power by their predecessors. Today, it is a rural municipality undergoing changes as urbanization arrives here from the Mexico City area. However, one element from the past that is still remembered is that of burros or donkeys. During the colonial period, Otumba was an important market for the animals, and they are still culturally important. Each year, the municipality sponsors a Feria de Burros or Donkey Fair, where the animals star in fashion shows, costume contests, and races. There is also a donkey sanctuary for unwanted animals.
Huasca de Ocampo is a town and municipality of the state of Hidalgo in central Mexico. It is located 34 km from Pachuca and 16 km from Real del Monte in the Pachuca Mountains. While the town itself is just within the mountain range, much of the municipal land is located in a valley that opens up to the east of the town. While one of the first haciendas to be established in Mexico is located here, economic development started with mining haciendas built by Pedro Romero de Terreros in the 18th century. By the mid 20th century, none of these haciendas were in existence, having been broken up into communal farm lands and some even fully or partially under lakes created by dams. While agriculture remains important economically, the area has been promoted as a tourism destination, especially for weekend visitors from Mexico City, with attractions such as canyons, traditional houses, old hacienda facilities and waterfalls.
Temascalcingo is one of 125 municipalities in the State of Mexico, Mexico. The municipal seat is the town of Temascalcingo de José María Velasco. It is located in the northeast of the state. The temazcal was very common in Temascalcingo. The name Temascalcingo has its roots in Nahuatl. It means place of the little temazcal. The town is one of the "Pueblo con Encanto" of the State of Mexico.
Federal Highway 95 connects Mexico City to Acapulco, Guerrero. The Autopista del Sol is a tolled alternative, which bypasses several towns of the state of Guerrero, including the city Iguala, and thus reduces transit time between Acapulco from Mexico city from 8 hours to almost 3.5 hours.
Zacualpan is one of the 125 municipalities in the State of Mexico in Mexico. It's municipal seat and largest settlement is the town of Zacualpan. It's located to the South of the state sharing a border with the State of Guerrero, 40 minutes from Ixtapan de la Sal, 1 hour and 50 minutes from the city of Toluca, and 2 and a half hours from Mexico City. The municipality covers an area of 305.5 km². Zacualpan is delimited to the North by the municipalities of Almoloya de Alquisiras and Coatepec Harinas, to the East by Ixtapan de la Sal and the municipality of Pilcaya (Guerrero), to the West by Sultepec, and to the South by Pilcaya, Tetipac, and Pedro Ascencio de Alquisiras (Guerrero).
Los Remedios National Park is a national park in Mexico, located in the far west of the municipality of Naucalpan in Mexico State, just northwest of Mexico City. The park was established by federal decree in 1938 with an area of 400 hectares. Within its borders is the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Los Remedios, a colonial-era aqueduct and a pre-Hispanic archaeological zone with a Chichimeca temple. All of these are located in and around the mountain called Cerro Moctezuma. The site was an Aztec observatory and is also believed to be where Hernán Cortés and his men rested after fleeing Tenochtitlan.
José de la Borda was a Spaniard who migrated to New Spain in the 18th century, amassing a great fortune in mines in Taxco and Zacatecas in Mexico. At one point, he was the richest man in Mexico. He is best remembered today through several architectural works that he sponsored, the most monumental being the Santa Prisca Church in Taxco
The Palace of Cortés in Cuernavaca, Mexico, built between 1523 and 1528, is the oldest conserved virreinal-era civil structure in the continental Americas. The architecture is a blend between Gothic and Mudéjar, typical of the early 16th century colonial architecture. The building began as a fortified residence for conqueror Hernán Cortés and his aristocratic second wife, Doña Juana Zúñiga. It was built in 1526, over a Tlahuica Aztec tribute collection center, which was destroyed by the Spanish during the Conquest. Cortés replaced it with a personal residence to assert authority over the newly conquered peoples. As Cortés's residence, it reached its height in the 1530s, but the family eventually abandoned it due to on-going legal troubles. In the 18th century, virreinal authorities had the structure renovated and used it as a barracks and jail. During the Mexican War of Independence, it held prisoners such as José María Morelos y Pavón. After the war, it became the seat of government for the state of Morelos until the late 20th century, when the state government moved out and the structure was renovated and converted into the Museo Regional Cuauhnahuac, or regional museum, with exhibited on the history of Morelos.
The Chautla Hacienda was a formerly vast extension of farmland located in the San Martin Texmelucan Valley in the state of Puebla, northwest of the city of Puebla in Mexico. It was established in the 18th century, primarily producing grain. In the 19th century, it became the property of an Englishman by the name of Thomas Gillow. He passed the property to his son Eulogio Gillow, who became the first archbishop of Antequera
The Parroquia de Santa Prisca y San Sebastían, commonly known as the Church of Santa Prisca, is a colonial monument located in the city of Taxco de Alarcón, in the southern state of Guerrero, Mexico, built between 1751 and 1759. It is located on the east side of the main plaza of Taxco.
In Taxco, the processions and ceremonies of Holy Week are elaborate and have gained international fame. Between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, there are ten major processions, six during the evening and four during the day. Most processions are about two and a half kilometers long and take about two hours to complete. These commemorations date back to at least 1622 when they were begun in the atrium of the Church of the Ex monastery of San Bernardino de Siena. Now these processions and ceremonies center of the Santa Prisca Church.
The William Spratling Museum is a museum in Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico. The museum contains 293 archeological pieces that were part of William Spratling's personal collection. There are bone and shell pieces, objects made with semi-precious stones, as well as jars and figurines, all from various parts of Mesoamerica. The most outstanding pieces are a skull covered in jade and a stele. There is a collection of counterfeit artifacts as well. Another area is devoted to the silverwork designs and the workshops that Spratling created in Taxco and Taxco el Viejo.
The Ex Hacienda del Chorrillo is a major colonial period silver hacienda located on the north side of Taxco, Guerrero, Mexico. The hacienda was constructed by warriors of Hernán Cortés and is one of the oldest in the region. It was built to take advantage of the area’s abundant water supply to extract silver from ore. The aqueduct built-in 1534 is ruined but still preserved.