Zacapoaxtla

Zacapoaxtla is a city and seat of the municipality of Zacapoaxtla, in the Mexican state of Puebla. The city has a population of 8,062 inhabitants, while the municipality has 49,242 inhabitants at the 2000 census. ["XII Censo General de Población y Vivienda 2000. [http://www.inegi.gob.mx/prod_serv/contenidos/espanol/bvinegi/productos/censos/poblacion/2000/resultadosporlocalidad/initer21.pdf Principales resultados por localidad. Puebla] ", Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geografía e Informática, 2000.] The name means "place where straw is counted", and it originates from Nahuatl roots: "zacatl" - straw; "pohuatl" - to count; and "tlān" - place. The name comes from the tribute people had to pay, i.e. as bales of straw.

Geography

The municipality of Zacapoaxtla is bounded on the east by the municipalities of Tlatlauquitepec and Zaragoza, on the north by Cuetzalan del Progreso, on the northwest by Nauzontla, on the west by Xochiapulco, and on the south by Zautla. It has an area of 188.8 km², that makes it the 66th largest with respect to the other municipalities of the state of Puebla.

The city of Zacapoaxtla is located on a mountainous terrain on the northern part of the state, on the morphological region known as Sierra Norte or Sierra de Puebla, amidst the Sierra Madre Oriental. The city is surrounded by three mountains: "Tres cabezas" ("Three Heads"), "Gran poder de Dios" ("Great Power of God") and the "Apaxtepec", an extinct volcano.

History

Though there are only a few archeological references, it is known that Nahua-Chichimecas people with Totonac background lived in this region. At the beginning of our era, almost the whole northeastern part of the now state of Puebla belonged to Totonacapan, and by the 12th century this region was part of Chichimecatlalli, to which the Manor of Tlatlauhquitepec belonged, including Zacapoaxtla. Other versions indicate that around the year 1270, the Apaxtepec volcano erupted burying the town of Xaltetelli, thus giving origin to the town of Zacapoaloyan, nowadays Zacapoaxtla. In any case, the people who lived around were subdued under the rule of the Triple Alliance "Huey-Tlatocayotl", and brought under the rule of the Manor of Texcoco.

In 1524, after the Spanish conquest, Tlatlauhquitepec (along with Zacapoaxtla) was entrusted to Jacinto Portillo, Spanish conqueror who would later become a missionary of the Order of Friars Minor of St. Francis, known as Fra Cintos. Zacapoaxtla had its first, rustic, church in 1576 under the advocacy of Saint Peter that was later substituted by another during the first half of the 17th century.

The village obtained the category of town on March 11, 1826, after the end of the Mexican War of Independence. On April 1, 1835, the town became seat of the municipality.

The town became widely known after the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, when Zacapoaxtlans fought bravely against the French army. The local population fought once more against the military intervention on April 25, 1863, at the convent of Saint Agnes in the city of Puebla. In 1864, General Fernando María Ortega, governor of the state of Puebla, declared the Town of Zacapoaxtla "La ciudad del 25 de abril" ("The City of April 25th") as a memorial to these events.

References