Cacalchén Municipality (In the

Yucatec Maya Yucatec Maya ( ; referred to by its speakers as or ) is a Mayan languages, Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula, including part of northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic community of Yucatec Maya speakers in San Fra ...

Language: “place of the well with two mouths”) is a

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

in the Mexican

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...

containing (76.64 km²) of land and located roughly 40 km east of the city of Mérida.

History

There is no extant record of Mayan settlement prior to the conquest. After the

conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...

the area became part of the

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...

system and Maria Sanchez Sosa was one of the first known encomenderos. Yucatán declared its independence from the Spanish Crown in 1821 and in 1825, the area was assigned to the coastal region with its headquarters in Izamal. In May 1848 during the

Caste War of Yucatán The Caste War of Yucatán or ''ba'atabil kichkelem Yúum'' (1847–1915) began with the revolt of Indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous Maya peoples, Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula against Hispanic populations, called ''Yucatecos''. Th ...

, Cacalchén became a refuge to Colonel José del Carmen Bello after the Mayan rebels defeated government troops and took Izamal. In December of the same year, the Mayan guerrillas commanded by Jacinto Pat looted the town and killed the white settlers. In 1900 it was withdrawn and became head of the municipality which bears its name.

Governance

The municipal president is elected for a three-year term. The town council has seven aldermen who serve as councilors for public works, public services, ecology, parks, public sanitation, nomenclature and cemeteries.

Communities

The head of the municipality is Cacalchén, Yucatán. The other populated areas in the municipality are Catzín, Puhá, Sahcabá and San Antonio. The significant populations are shown below:

Local festivals

Every year from 20 to 29 June a celebration is held in honor of the patron saints of the town, St. Peter and St. Paul.

Tourist attractions

* Church of St. Paul dates to the sixteenth century * Hacienda Dzidzilché

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cacalchen Municipalities of Yucatán