Misantla is a city in the

Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a separate en ...

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, the administrative seat of the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

''(

municipio ' (, ) and ' () are country subdivisions in Italy and several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. They are often translated as "municipality". In the English language, a municipality often is defined as relating to a single city or ...

)'' of the same name. The municipality is bordered by

Martínez de la Torre Martínez de la Torre is a city and its surrounding municipality of the same name located in the central part of the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city had a 2005 census population of 56,433, while the municipality had a population of 97,768. Th ...

, Colipa and Papantla. Misantla is located in the valley of the Misantla River in the

Sierra de Chiconquiaco The Sierra de Chiconquiaco is a coastal mountain range in Veracruz state of eastern Mexico. Geography The Sierra extends generally east–west. It is bounded on the north by the plain of the Nautla River, which empties eastwards into the Gulf of ...

. Travelwise, Misantla is about from the beaches of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

, however, the roads to the Coast are not reliable. Misantla is located two hours North of

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of whi ...

(the capital of the state) on Veracruz State Highway 65, a most scenic mountain route, well-paved. Federal Highways

180 __NOTOC__ Year 180 ( CLXXX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rusticus and Condianus (or, less frequently, year 933 ''Ab ...

and 129 are on either side of it. Misantla has Pre-Columbian pyramid, located northwest of town. It is the municipal seat of several different communities such as Morelos, Guerrero, el Pozón, Buenos Aires, Arroyo Hondo, etc. In the local Native American

Totonac language Totonac is a Totonacan language cluster of Mexico, spoken across a number of central Mexican states by the Totonac people. It is a Mesoamerican language and shows many of the traits which define the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area. Along with som ...

it means "place of the Deer", although there are no longer deer in the wild. Misantla is over 450 years old, it was founded by the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

s and the Native population. Weather in Misantla is very hot and humid. The main crops are coffee beans, oranges and corn. Misantla is not only an agricultural community but also people raise cattle for a living. In the city, vendors invaded the pretty streets with street commerce, thus street commerce is another very common activity. Misantla is also known as ''La Tierra del Cachichin'' ("land of Cachichin"). Cachichin is a very sour, unpleasant nut which used to be abundant; nowadays, however, the nut is steadily disappearing.

History

The region was originally populated by people of the Tajin or Totonaca culture. The Chiconquiaco Codex that records in 1542 the settlement was founded to concentrate and evangelize the natives. On August 25, 1544, the tax that Misantla had to pay in the town of Xalapa was fixed. On January 20, 1564, the day of San Sebastián, the population of San Juan Misantla moved, by decision of the Franciscans who evangelized the region, from the old place to the new one, at the junction of the Palchán and Misantla rivers. Two of the first Catholic evangelists in the region were

Toribio de Benavente Motolinia Toribio of Benavente, O.F.M. (1482, Benavente, Spain – 1565, Mexico City, New Spain), also known as Motolinía, was a Franciscan missionary who was one of the famous Twelve Apostles of Mexico who arrived in New Spain in May 1524. His publis ...

and

Fray Buenaventura de Fuenlabrada Fray or Frays or The Fray may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities *Fray, a phenomenon in Terry Pratchett's ''The Carpet People'' *Fray, the main character in the video games: **''Fray in Magical Adventure'' **''Fray CD'' ...

, who lived in the town of

Chapultepec Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest city parks in Mexico, measuring in total just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). Centered on a rock formation called Chapultep ...

. The new foundation was called Santa María de la Asunción Misantla, although the first church built was dedicated to San Sebastián, being destroyed by a fire in 1565. The body of Baruch Pérez León, commander of the municipal police department, was found near the Martínez de la Torre garbage dump on January 29, 2021. Pérez León had been reported missing the night before, and there were indications he had been tortured before he was shot. Police commanders in

San Juan Evangelista San Juan Evangelista is a municipality located in the plains of the Sotavento zone in the central zone of the State of Veracruz, about 260 km from state capital Xalapa. It has a surface of 968.94 km2. It is located at . Geographic limits The ...

and Huatusco had been assassinated in February 2019 and May 2020, respectively.

Notable people

Digna Ochoa Digna Ochoa (born Digna Ochoa y Plácido; May 15, 1964 – October 19, 2001) was a human rights lawyer in Mexico. During her career, Ochoa had represented some of Mexico's poorest constituents against government interests. On October 19, 2001, Och ...

(1964–2001), human rights lawyer

Government

Municipal presidents

References

External links

*
Municipal Official Site
*
Municipal Official Information
{{Authority control Populated places in Veracruz Totonac sites Populated places established in 1564