La Piedad

Infobox City
official_name = La Piedad de Cavadas
nickname =




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map_caption = Location of La Piedad in Michoacán
subdivision_type = Municipality
subdivision_name = La Piedad
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Arturo Torres
area_magnitude =
area_total =
area_land =
area_water =
population_footnotes =cite web | date = December 14, 2006 | url = http://www.inegi.gob.mx/inegi/default.aspx?c=&e=16 | title=Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI) ]
population_as_of = 2005
population_total = 78361
population_metro =
population_density =
timezone = CST
utc_offset = -6
timezone_DST = CDT
utc_offset_DST = -5
latitude = 20°21' N
longitude = 102°00' O
website =
footnotes =

La Piedad de Cavadas is a city and its surrounding municipality (La Piedad municipality) located in the north-west of the Mexican state of Michoacán, bordering Jalisco and Guanajuato. The original colonial name was San Sebastián. It is bordered by the town of Santa Ana Pacueco, Guanajuato. Both towns straddle the Lerma River. The city of La Piedad's population was 78,361 inhabitants in the 2005 census. The municipality has an area of 284.11 km² (109.7 sq mi) and its population was 91,132.

It is located at coord|20|20|N|102|01|W|

Limits

La Piedad, "north door" of the state of Michoacán, surrounding the Lerma river, has limits at the north with the municipalities of Degollado Jalisco and Penjamo Guanajuato; at the east with the municipality of Numarán Michoacán; at the south with the municipalities of Zináparo, Churintzio and Ecuandureo Michoacán; and at the west with the municipality of Yurécuaro.

The municipality is connected through roads with cities in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Guanajuato, and of course Michoacán.

It is:

* 89 km from Irapuato, Guanajuato. (1 h)
* 170 km from León, Guanajuato. (2 h)
* 35 km from Churintzio, Michoacán. (25 min)
* 166 km from Morelia, Michoacán. (1 h 40 min)
* 55 km from Zamora, Michoacán. (40 min)
* 177.5 km from Guadalajara, Jalisco. (1 h 50 min)

History

Attractions

Places of interest include the town center with its beautiful "quiosco" (bandstand) built with quarried stone, the gateways, and the Señor de La Piedad church, which boasts perhaps the biggest dome in the country. Also of note are the Cavadas Bridge and the 30-metre-high El Salto waterfall.

There are also urban parks like Morelos Park, La Placa park, and the zoo. The city is famous because of its colorful "Rebozos", and the singer Jose Alfredo Jimenez made it more famous with the song "El Perro Negro" ("The Black Dog").

There are hotels from 3 to 5 stars in the city.

Industry

La Piedad is a hub for agricultural products. The town was once known as the center of the Mexican pork industry, and still plays an important part in that industry. However, La Piedad has recently moved its economy towards textiles. Major manufacturers like Marval have production facilities in La Piedad. Surrounding towns are Santa Ana, Yurecuaro, Degollado, Numaran, and Ecuandureo. La Piedad is also the headquarters for veterinary pharmaceuticals company LaPisa and industrial turbine manufacturer Turbomaquinas.Also there is an important candy factory and sausage factories like Parma. La Piedad is also well known for having the best taco restaurants in the country, restaurants such as Tacos Ayala, which was established in 1964, owned by businessman Mr. Juan Ayala Sr., with the headquarters located in the middle of downtown, and with more than 15 restaurants all over the city.

There are 569 companies registered in the municipality, which puts La Piedad in the top four cities in the state with the greatest number of companies, after Morelia, Uruapan, and Zamora.

The Kansas City Southern railway crosses La Piedad allowing other companies to settle around in the future.

Education

Currently there are educational institutions from kindergarten, elementary schools, high schools, secondaries and colleges, and four universities that offer varied bachelor's degrees: Instituto Tecnologico de La Piedad, Universidad de Leon at La Piedad, Universidad del Valle de Atemajac, and Univer at La Piedad.

Media

*TV channels - There are 2 local channels, Videa TV and TV La Piedad (there is also a cable service)
*Radio stations in FM and AM
*Newspapers - there are local and state newspapers.
*Internet

Politics

Mayors
* 1940-1941 PRI Ezequiel Martínez Aguilar
* 1942 PRI Dr. Rafael Aceves Alvarado
* 1943 PRI Roberto Chavolla Bernúdez
* 1944 PRI Miguel Camarena Pérez
* 1944-1945 PRI Antonio Licea Luna
* 1946 PRI Manuel Rodríguez Guillen
* 1946 PRI Angel Pichardo
* 1947 PRI José Arroyo Domínguez
* 1948 PRI J. Reyes Rojas
* 1949-1950 PRI José Villegas Hernández
* 1951 PRI Luis Trillo Meza
* 1952 PRI Carlos Avila Escoto
* 1953 PRI Luis Trillo Meza
* 1954 PRI Carlos López Gallegos
* 1955 PRI Ing. José García Castillo
* 1956 PRI Agustín Belmonte Belmonte
* 1957-1958 PRI Lic. Pedro Elorza Aguilar
* 1959 PRI Ricardo Guerrero Celedón
* 1960-1961 PRI Benjamín Torres Rojas
* 1962 PRI José Villegas Hernández
* 1963-1964 PRI Dr. Javier García Castillo
* 1965 PRI Agustín Belmonte Munguía
* 1966-1968 PRI José Luis Fernández Alba
* 1969-1971 PRI Lic. Rodolfo Ramírez Trillo
* 1972-1974 PRI Dr. Marco Antonio Aviña
* 1975-1976 PRI Arq. Pablo Aguilera Navarro
* 1977 PRI C.P. Julián Morales
* 1978-1980 PRI Lic. José Vicente Aguilar Rizo
* 1981-1983 PRI Guillermo Alvarado Magdaleno
* 1984-1986 PRI Guillermo Rizo Hernández
* 1986 PRI Profr. Rogelio Baltierra Flores
* 1987-1989 PRI José Luis Fernández Alba
* 1990-1991 PRI Eduardo Villaseñor Peña
* 1991-1992 PRI C.P. Alipio Bribiesca Tafolla
* 1993-1995 PRI Ing. José Adolfo Mena Rojas
* 1996-1998 PAN Ing, Raúl García Castillo
* 1999-2001 PRI Ramón Maya Morales
* 2002-2004 PRI Lic. Jaime Mares Camarena
* 2005-2007 PAN Arturo Torres Santos
* 2008-2011 PAN Ricardo Guzmán Romero

Notable citizens

Many famous athletes and celebrities were born or lived in La Piedad, among these Ramon Morales, midfielder for Chivas de Guadalajara football team as well as his brother Carlos Morales, midfielder for Toluca. The frontman for Regional Mexican group "Los Razos de Sacramento y Reynaldo" Sacramento Ramirez is also from La Piedad.

Arts / Shows
*Salvador Meza Mendez-Painter, famous for his oil and pencil paintings about city's historical monuments
* Francisco Núñez Montes - [http://portal.unesco.org/culture/fr/ev.php-URL_ID=16709&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html músico]
* Tania Vanesa Rincon Sanchez - Winner of 'Nuestra Belleza Michoacan 2006', TV presenter
* Ignacio Ortiz - Painter
* Vicente de P. Cano - Poet
* Josefina Baez- Poet
* José Gómez Rogil - Poet
* Carlos Alvarado Lang - Engraver
* Juan Rodríguez Vega - Musician
* Sergio Arturo Bravo Zarate - Writer / "Los Buenos Tiempos" New York Times Best Seller 2007
* Leny Ayala - Painter and Famous Graffiti Artist
* Manuel Ayala Tejeda - Poet, writer, City's historian. (1913-1997)
* Heriberto Guízar Castro - Radio founder in La Piedad. (1918-2000)
* José García del Río - General's cousin Lázaro Cárdenas del Río drilled wells and provided the city with water.
* Lic. Rafael Reyes - Lawyer, he was always worried about education.
* Luis G. Ayala - Playwright, theater director, and teacher.
* Malena Padilla Alfaro - Children theater director, pastorelas, and traditional Christ Nativity wax representation artist, inherited from her mother's creations Mrs. Lupita Alfaro de Padilla.
* Rafael Padilla Alfaro - Teacher, decorator, and The Sagrada Imágen de Nuestro Señor de la Piedad fervous servant. Politics
* Mariano Silva y Aceves.- Pedagogue, UNAM's first Dean
* Jesús Romero Flores - Part of the group of people that formed the Mexican Constitution.
* Eduardo Villaseñor Peña - Michoacan's Governor (1992).
* María Guadalupe Sánchez Martínez - Federal Delegate, Secretary of Government, Michoacán State.
* Pedro Aceves Parra - Revolutionary
* Arnulfo Ávila Ávila - Politician
* Humberto Romero Pérez - Politician
* Guillermo Rizo Hernández - Politician and administrator

Sports
* Yovani Gallardo - Baseball player - [http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=mil Milwaukee Brewers]
* Patricia Mariscal - Won medals in Tae kwon do world championships
* Hector Pulido - Soccer player, he was part of the national team and coach of Cruz Azul Club (finalist in season 1986-1987)
* Gustavo Vargas - Soccer player
* Ramón Morales - Soccer player, he has been part of the national team and played in the World Cup 2002 in Korea-Japan
* Carlos Morales - Soccer player, he has been part of the national team
* Fernando Lopez - Soccer player

Religion
* Juan Espinoza Jiménez - Works in Vatican with the Pope
* Carlos Suarez Cazares - Bishop

ports

In the city there are basketball and soccer (male and female) leagues, there are wrestling exhibitions, and the city has been finish of the Ruta Mexico (cycling). There are two public sport centers, clubs with tennis courts, a "Lienzo Charro," and the Juan N. Lopez stadium. Outside the city are the Alianza, Mercantil and Azteca clubs, where there are soccer fields and swimming pools.

La Piedad was also the hometown for Los Reboceros de La Piedad, a soccer team in Mexico's Primera División A league, which later moved to the first division. During their time in the first division, they captured the attention of Mexico's soccer fans with a number one finish in the league table. They were defeated by the Aguilas del America in "La Liguilla" (the playoffs). Los Reboceros merged with Queretaro, and became "Los Gallos Blancos" (The White Roosters) before their diminishment from national league soccer. Santiago Garcia is also a notable citizen from La Finca.

cience

[http://www.itlapiedad.edu.mx/ Insituto Tecnologico de La Piedad] has recently gotten several prizes in Computer Science in the National Creativity Contest.

Traffic

La Piedad suffers from big traffic issues, due to the location of this city. La Piedad is located close to the border of three states, Michoacan, Guanajuato and Jalisco. Thus the traffic problem arises. There are three highways entering this city; Mexico highways 110, 39, and 90.Highway 110 goes west and takes you to towns like Brisenas, La Barca, and the free route to Guadalajara. Highway 39 takes you south of La Piedad to Zamora, this highway takes you to the toll freeway 15, which goes north-south, from Nogales to Mexico City. Highway 90 takes you north of La Piedad to the state of Guanajuato.

The federal government has plans in progress to build a peripheral road in order to reduce the traffic.

References

* [http://www.inegi.gob.mx/est/contenidos/espanol/sistemas/conteo2005/localidad/iter/ Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005] INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
* [http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_michoacan Michoacán] "Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México"

ister cities

La Piedad has one sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International: [cite web |url=http://www.sister-cities.org/icrc/directory/usa/CA |title=Online Directory: California, USA |work=Sister Cities International]
*flagicon|USA Woodland, USA

External links

* [http://www.lapiedad.gob.mx Ayuntamiento de La Piedad] Official website
* [http://www.michoacan.gob.mx/municipios/50lapiedad.htm Another official web site]
* [http://www.videatelevision.com/ Videa Television] NOTE: some might be in Spanish