Texcoco de Mora
Texcoco de Mora is a city located in the State of Mexico, 25 km northeast of Mexico City. Texcoco de Mora is the municipal seat of the municipality of Texcoco. In the pre-Hispanic era, this was a major Aztec city on the shores of Lake Texcoco. After the Conquest, the city was initially the second most important after Mexico City, but its importance faded over time, becoming more rural in character. Over the colonial and post-independence periods, most of Lake Texcoco was drained and the city is no longer on the shore and much of the municipality is on lakebed. Numerous Aztec archeological finds have been discovered here, including the 125 tonne stone statue of Chalchiuhtlicue, which was found near San Miguel Coatlinchán and now resides at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
Much of Texcoco's recent history involves the clash of the populace with local, state and federal authorities. The most serious of these is the continued attempts to develop an airport here, which despite the saturation of the current Mexico City airport, is opposed by local residents. The city and municipality is home to a number of archeological sites, such as the palace of Nezahualcoyotl, Texcotzingo and Huexotla. Other important sites include the Cathedral, the Juanino Monastery, and Chapingo Autonomous University. The most important annual festival is the Feria Internacional del Caballo, which showcases the area's mostly agricultural economic base.
Toponymy
The official name of the municipality is Texcoco and the official name of the city is Texcoco de Mora, in honor of Dr. José María Luis Mora. However, both are commonly called Texcoco. The name has been spelled a number of other ways over the city's history including Tetzcuco, Tezcoco and Tezcuco. The name is derived from Nahuatl and most likely means “among the jarilla which grow in crags”. However, there are a number of glyph representations for the place that have appeared the Codex Azcatitlán, the Codex Cruz, the Quinantzin Map and other early colonial documents and this translation cannot be verified 100%.History
Pre-Columbian
The Paleontological Museum in Tocuila displays part of one of the richest deposits of Late Pleistocene fauna in the Americas, found in an ancient river mouth that used to flow into Lake Texcoco. While there is no exact date for the first human settlements in Texcoco, it is likely that the first people here were Toltec or from Teotihuacan. The Xolotl, Tolotzin and Quinatzin Codices indicate that the first people here were ethnically Chichimeca. This tribe is credited for founding a province known in pre-Hispanic Valley of Mexico as Acolhuacan.The most notable rulers of Acolhuacan, who resided in Texcoco were Nopaltzin, Tlotzin Pochotl, Quinatzin Tlaltecatzin, Techotlalatzin, Ixtlixochitl El Viejo, Nezahualcoyotl, Nezahualpilli and Cacamatzin. All of these rulers were considered to be great warriors and priests who influenced the history of this valley. The most prominent of these rulers was Nezahualcoyotl who was one of the founders of the Aztec Triple Alliance. During his forty-year reign, the arts, culture and architecture flourished in the dominion.
Colonial period
initially arrived to Texcoco in 1519, while Cacamatzin was leader. Here the brigantines to attack Tenochtitlan were constructed in 1521. On Juárez Street there is an obelisk which marks this event. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Franciscan friars came to Texcoco to evangelize, principally Juan de Tecto, Juan de Ayora and Pedro de Gante. Gante founded the first primary school in Mesoamerica, teaching Latin, Spanish, sewing, carpentry and knitting. He also wrote the first catechism in Nahuatl. In the north of the Texcoco cathedral, there is a chapel named after him.In 1551, indigenous leader Fernando Pimentel y Alvarado petitioned to have Texcoco recognized as a city by the Spanish Crown. This petition was granted and it received a coat of arms. While the overall style of the coat of arms is Spanish, the emblems inside, such as a coyote and a warrior with headdress are Aztec. In the very early colonial period, Texcoco was the second most important city in New Spain.
Post-independence
Despite its initial importance, Texcoco did not develop as a major city like some of its neighbors during the colonial period and for much of the post-independence period. It was mostly important for fishing and agriculture. From 1827 to 1830, Texcoco was the second capital of the State of Mexico, until it was moved to San Agustín de las Cuevas, today Tlalpan. Texcoco became the head of one of the districts of Mexico State in 1837. The appendage of “de Mora” was added in 1861. In 1919, it became a modern municipality.Leopoldo Flores found a massive 125 tonne Tlaloc statue at Texcoco in 1903. Today, the statue stands in front of the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City; the local population resisted the relocation of the sculpture, even sabotaging the vehicles which came for it. There has been a proposal to install a 1:1 replica at the original site, with artists studying over 1,500 photographs of the original.
In 2003, archeologists sponsored by the National Geographic, University of Michigan and the Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo discovered a number of pre-Hispanic artifacts in an area which has been proposed for building an airport. The finds are at areas that are or were the shores of Lake Texcoco and sheds light on water tables over the centuries. Some of the pieces found include ceramics, utensils and ceremonial objects.
In 2005, traditional crafts vendors blocked the main roads of the historic center of Texcoco to demand that they not be relocated away from the city cathedral. They state that the area is an important meeting point especially on holidays. It is estimated that 1,500 people depend on sales made here during festivals such as Day of the Dead, Candelaria, Christmas and Independence Day.
In 2006, there were outbreaks of violence among merchants and farmers versus police in Texcoco and neighboring San Salvador Atenco, blocking the Texcoco-Lechería highway. The merchants were from the Belisario Dominguez market in Texcoco who have been denied public space in which to sell their merchandise, mostly flowers. State and federal police have blocked the area which the flower vendors used just outside the market proper. Supporters of the flower sellers from San Salvador Atenco have intervened in both the talks and the blocking of roads in protest.
Government
As the seat of the municipality, the city of Texcoco is the local government for over 160 other communities which cover a territory of 418.69 km. About 47% of the municipality's population lives in the city proper. The main communities outside the city proper include San Felipe, San Miguel Tocuila, Santiaguito, Santa María Tulantongo, San Bernardino, Montecillo, Unidad Habitacional Embotelladores, Xocotlán and Santa Inés. The municipality borders the municipalities of San Salvador Atenco, Tepetlaoxtoc, Papalotla, Chiautla, Chiconcuac, Chimalhuacán, Chicoloapan, Ixtapaluca, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Ecatepec as well as the states of Tlaxcala and Puebla to the north and east and Mexico City to the southwest.The city is divided into 19 sectors and 55 communities. The main communities are Barrio San Pedro, El Xolache I, El Xolache II, Joyas de San Mateo, San Juanito, Santa Úrsula, Niños Héroes, Valle de Santa Cruz, El Centro, Las Salinas, Las Américas, San Lorenzo, El Carmen, San Mateo, San Martín, La Conchita, Joyas de Santa Ana and Zaragoza.
Geography
Tescoco lies about 25 km east of the centre of Mexico City. Major elevations in the municipality include the Tlaloc Mountain the Tetzcutzinco, Moyotepec and Tecuachacho. Most elevations are named after the major community to be found on them. There are also a number of small canyons. Part of the municipality used to be covered by Lake Texcoco, but most of this lake has since been drained. The rivers that fed it, such as the Cozcacuaco, the Chapingo and the San Bernardino still exist.The city of Texcoco used to be located on the shore of Lake Texcoco. This lake covered an area of 9,600 km2, but since early colonial times, floods or fears of flooding have led to various drainage projects, which over time has nearly destroyed the lake completely. Starting in the 1970s and continuing to the present day, there have been efforts to clean the polluted remnants of the lake. The remains of Lake Texcoco extend about 1,700 hectares in which aquatic birds and migratory birds from the U.S. and Canada can still be seen.
The climate is temperate and semi-arid with a median temperature of 15.9 °C, and few frosts. Most rains come between the months of June and October. The higher peaks have forests of conifers and oaks while the drier lowlands have semi desert vegetation. Animal life includes deer, coyotes and ocelots, as well as smaller mammals. The municipality has lost a number of larger bird species such as the falcon, eagle and buzzard. Smaller birds such as swallows, canaries and others remain. Except for rattlesnakes, almost all reptiles have disappeared.
Demography
In 2005 the municipality had a population of 259,308.Economy
The city and municipality still keep much of its rural nature, lacking the heavy industry that many of its neighbors have. This requires that many residents here commute to other locations to work, such as Mexico City, Ecatepec and Tlalnepantla. The large volume of traffic that passes through the municipality via highways results in smog.About 60% of the municipality is either forest or tree farms. About 25% of the land is used for agriculture. Most agriculture is based on family farms which produce avocados, plums, apples and pears as well as corn, beans, barley, wheat, maguey and nopal. Floriculture began in this municipality in the mid 20th century and is practices intensively in the communities of San Simón, San José Texopan, San Diego, San Miguel Coatlinchan, San Miguel Tlaixpan and San Nicolás Tlaminca. Most livestock is dairy cattle produced on ranches such as Xalapango, La Pría, Granja La Castilla, Establo México, Santa Rosa, Santa Mónica and La Moreda. Industry is a very recent development, mostly associated with agriculture. The main craft produced here is blown glass.