Apaxco

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Apaxco
Municipality and town
Church of Saint Francis in Apaxco
Church of Saint Francis in Apaxco
Official seal of Apaxco
Seal
300px
Country  Mexico
State Mexico (state)
Area
 • Total 80.34 km2 (31.02 sq mi)
Population (2005)
 • Total 25,738
Time zone Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) Central Daylight Time (UTC-5)
Website Official website

Apaxco is a municipality located in the northeastern part of the state of Mexico in Mexico, although both are commonly called Apasco. Apaxco de Ocampo is the town seat, it's located at a northern pass leading out of the Mezquital Valley and about 128 km northeast of the state capital of Toluca. This name come from Nahuatl and means "place of the water fall".[1]

The municipality was founded on October 16, 1870, this covers an area of 80.34 km². As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 25,738.

Geography

The town of Apaxco de Ocampo, a municipal seat, has governing jurisdiction over the following communities: Coyotillos, Santa María, Loma Bonita and Colonia Juárez. The total municipality extends 84.37 and borders with the municipalities of Tequixquiac, Hueypoxtla and the state of Hidalgo.

The Gran Canal de Desagüe is an artificial channel that crossing Apaxco, was named Xothé river in otomi language, this channel connect with Tula river and Endhó dam. Other small river is Treviño, Zarco, El Codo and Teña, connect with Gran Canal.[2] Apaxco has got a thermal waters, there are subterranean rivers with hot springs, named in this place as son as Los Bañitos.[3]

The municipal seat is in a small, elongated valley but most of the municipality is on a high mesa which transitions from the Valley of Mexico to the Mezquital Valley.[4] The highest mountains in Apaxco are the Cerro El Estudiante, Cerro Teña, Cerro Coyotillos, Cerro Blanco and Cerro Pelón in Tezontlalpan Sierra, other mountains are Mesa Ahumada or Cerro Colorado[5] in the border between the municipalities of Huehuetoca and Tequixquiac. In Apaxco de Ocampo has got a big crater named El Hoyo, the Aztec people named in nahuatl language as apatztli.[6]

Apaxco municipality is a rural territory of Central Mexican Plateau, here there is a semi-desertic climate, is southem of Mezquital Valley.

Flora & fauna

File:Pérez de Galeana. Apaxco (2).JPG
Semi-desertic landscape in Apaxco municipality.

Apaxco municipality is a rural territory of Central Mexican Plateau, here there is a diversity in plants and animals of semi-desertic climate (Mezquital Valley).

The native plants are maguey (agave americana), cardón or cholla (cylindropuntia imbricata), nopal or pickly pear (opuntia ficus-indica), viznaga or golden barrel (echinocactus), órgano or fencepost cactus (pachycereus marginatus), garambullo or billberry cactus (myrtillocactus geometrizans), palo dulce (eysenhardtia polystachya), mesquite (prosopis juliflora), encino or netleaf oak (quercus rugosa), tepozán (buddleja cordata), huizache (vachellia farnesiana), cedro or white cedar (cupressus lusitanica), xaixne or creosote bush (larrea tridentata), dingandán or pepicha (porophyllum linaria), depe or creeping false holly (Jaltomata procumbens), tule (schoenoplectus acutus), carrizo (phragmites communis), and fruit trees as tejocote (crataegus mexicana), capulin (prunus serotina), white sapote (casimiroa edulis), ojo de gallo (sanvitalia procumbens).

The native animals are cacomistle, skunk, gopher, Virginia opossum, rabbit, Mexican gray squirrel, turkey, colibri, turkey vulture, northern mockingbird, rattlesnake, pine snake, xincoyote, red warbler, rufous-crowned sparrow, lesser roadrunner, great horned owl, frog, toad, red ant, bee, others.

History

The first settlers in the region date back to 5000 BC, evidence of which is the expression carved on the stones of the Cerrado cincunvecinos. It estma that the inhabitants were otomiano group in later years lived in Tollan Xicocotitlan.

The civilizations that inhabited what is now Apaxco had a direct relationship with the Teotihuacan civilization, until they declined to between 650 and 900, after that were dominated by the Toltecs.

In 1215, during the pilgrimage to the mythical promised city of the Aztecs, was the site Apaxco held the second fire again before moving on to the south, towards ending their long journey Ecatepec on the banks of the hill of Chapultepec.

With the rise of the Aztec Empire, Apaxco region and all the neighbors were under the government of Tacuba, one of the members of the Triple Alliance. Apaxco remained in this position until the fall of Tenochtitlan before the army of Hernán Cortés.

In colonial times Apaxco Commit entered the system imposed by the Spanish conquerors, and came under the command of Cristóbal Hernandez Mosquera in 1530.

Apaxco was erected as a township in 1870 after the end of the French intervention, the first school was founded in 1880. But during the Porfirio Díaz government, the municipality entered into a phase of strong economic recession and the town disappeared in 1899 for failing to keep administrative or economically, from that date until 1923 Apaxco was a part from Texquiquiac Township.

Politics

File:Apaxco (3).JPG
Municipality House in Apaxco de Ocampo.
Mayor Time
Guadalupe Hernández Méndez 2003–2006
Daniel Parra Ángeles 2006-2009
Ignacio Cruz García 2009-2012
Daniel Parra Ángeles 2012–2015
Jesús Cruz Parra 2016–

Demography

Town Population
Total 27,521
Apaxco de Ocampo 13,836
Santa María 3,747
Coyotillos 3,084

At the census of 2010, there were 27,521 people, The population density was 155.4 people per square mile (80.34/km²), The median age was twenty-four years. For every 17,113 females there were 16,794 males.[7]

Culture

File:Apaxco Museo Arqueologico.JPG
Archeological Museum of Apaxco.
File:Parroquia Apaxco (6).JPG
Inside Saint Francis parish in Apaxco.

The Archeological Museum of Apaxco is important site at main plaza where have got interesting archeological pieces from Toltec, Aztec and Teotihuacan cultures over this place.

Monuments

Saint Francis parish is a monument in Apaxco de Ocampo town. This temple was constructed in various phases, was started by Franciscan priests. The atrium was a large space encased in stone with a cross on top of it but with Christian and indigenous symbols, inside is boveda with a chorus to the barroque altar. The facade contains two doorways that are elaborately decorated in stonework which contain indigenous symbolism as well. The temple and the town are dedicated to the Saint Francis of Assisi.

La Misión chapel is a monument in Apaxco de Ocampo town. This chapel, constructed in the Spanish period, is a small Christian Catholic church occupied by monastery priests for the purpose of evangelizing the indigenous people.

Railroad station Apaxco, this building was constructed in the 19th century to connect a Tula railway to Querétaro City.

Sports & Entertainment

File:Apaxco (El Hoyo).JPG
The Hoyo, a deportive place in Apaxco de Ocampo.

The first sport practiced in Apaxco has been the football soccer. When arrived the factory workers for the Cementos Apaxco, racquetball is a sport practiced in this township. Today is played racquetball at Deportivo Apaxco in Loma Bonita, site at south of town (Santa María road cross) and other sports as soon as baseball and basquetball.

The hills of Apaxco had used by cows and rams, the Spanish had very large haciendas and found it necessary to employ indigenous people as vaqueros or herdsman, who soon became excellent horsemen. This situation, is practiced the charrería here.

References

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  2. Apaxco municipality INEGI, 2009.
  3. Apaxco Municipality, INADEF.
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  5. [1]
  6. Apaxco, Zumpangolandia, May 26, 2016.
  7. Municipality of ApaxcoSEDESOL, catálogo de localidades. Archived from the original on May 18, 2016. (Spanish)

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