Tetela del Volcán

Tetela del Volcán or simply Tetela, is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos. It is located on the slopes of the volcano Popocatépetl. coord|18|57|48|N|99|15|12|W|. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is notable for its sixteenth century Dominican ex-convent which together with a number of other early monasteries nearby in the area has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The toponym "Tetela" comes from Nahuatl and means "place of rocks". The "Volcán" ("volcano") referred to is, of course, Popocatépetl.

Demographics

The municipality reported 16,428 inhabitants in the year 2000 census. Other towns in the municipality of Tetela del Volcán include Hueyapan, Xochicalco (not to be confused with the archeological site of the same name) and Tlamimilulpa.

History

In 1503, Tetela del Volcán and nearby Hueyapan were subjugated to the Aztec Empire by Moctezuma II. The first Spaniards to arrive in Tetela were Bernardino Vázquez de Tapia and Pedro de Alvarado in 1519. After the fall of Tenochtitlán Cortés arrived in Tetela del Volcán, where he found the Indians to be resistant and fierce. According to Diego Durán their subjugation was achieved only thanks to the intervention of María Estrada and her husband Pedro Sánchez Farfán, for which Cortés awarded the couple the lands of Tetela as an encomienda. In 1561 this encomienda was revoked and laid under the Spanish Crown directly, and in the "Relacion Geográfica" from 1665 this "realengo" appears to be administrated by corregidor Cristóbal Martínez de Maldonado.

In the 17th century the indigenous authorities were still functioning to a large extent (Gibson) and the Spanish and native government coexisted for a while as separate systems. In 1784, Tetela del Volcán was incorporated into the Subdelegación de Cuautla and lost its status as "cabecera" (capital) of the district. When the administrative structure of "corregimientos" and "alcaldías" was abolished Tetela lost any special status.

When the state of Morelos was first established, Tetela del Volcán belonged to the municipality of Ocuituco. It was established as a separate municipality on January 31, 1937, during the government of Lázaro Cárdenas.

After the 2006 Mexican election, Mario Soberanes (Nueva Alianza) was elected municipal president [http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/379504.html] [http://www.oem.com.mx/elsoldecuernavaca/notas_e.asp?urlnota=sec3-061006] and became the first citizen of Hueyapan to be elected president of the municipality. He was also the first municipal president from a party other than the Institutional Revolutionary Party since the municipality's founding [http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/morelos/Municipios/17022a.htm] .

Municipal Presidents

References

*http://www.e-morelos.gob.mx/e-gobierno/DirMunicipios/tetela_del_volcan.htm
* [http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/morelos/Municipios/17022a.htm Tetela del Volcán] , Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México
* [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetela_del_Volc%C3%A1n This article draws partly on material from the Spanish Language Wikipedia]