Oaxtepec is a town within the municipality of Yautepec and the Cuautla metropolitan area in the eastern part of the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

Morelos Morelos, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos, is a landlocked state located in south-central Mexico. It is one of the 32 states which comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Mun ...

. Its main industry is tourism, mostly aimed at the inhabitants of nearby

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, and the town possesses various aquatic resorts and hotels. The climate is tropical and the countryside very lush. The population of Oaxtepec is 7,097 (2020). Oaxtepec had 6,939 inhabitants in 2010. During the XIX Olympiad in 1968, Oaxtepec was the venue and staging area for the World Youth Camp component of the Cultural Olympiad. Equestrian events at the 1968 Olympiad were held in Oaxtepec.

History

In pre-Columbian times, already one of the largest towns in the region, it was conquered by the

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

s under the rule of

Moctezuma I Moctezuma I (–1469), also known as Montezuma I, Moteuczomatzin Ilhuicamina ( ) or Huehuemoteuczoma ( ), was the second Tlatoani, Aztec emperor and fifth king of Tenochtitlan. During his reign, the Aztec Empire was consolidated, major expansion ...

lhuicamina. During Moctezuma Ilhuicamina's reign (1440–1469), the first leisure center for nobles was created in the warm territory of Oaxtepec, as well as low lands to the south of

Tenochtitlan , also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear, but the date 13 March 1325 was chosen in 1925 to celebrate the 600th annivers ...

valley, today's

. Moctezuma ordered to use the water springs of Oaxtepec to create an

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...

system for

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and preservation of important vegetation of the

empire. An elaborate royal garden was established here where both flowers and other plants were cultivated. This was the first botanical garden in the Americas. When the Spanish first arrived in the region, they marveled at the beauty of the place. They praised Oaxtepec in their

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

s of the

conquest.Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, In the 16th century, thanks to the great number of medicinal plants found in the region, the

Spaniard Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking Ethnicity, ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern Nation state, nation-state of Spain. Genetics, Genetically and Ethnolinguisti ...

s decided to build the ''Santa Cruz de Oaxtepec'' hospital. Bernandino Álvares directed the project in 1569 and for the next two hundred years it was administrated by the ''Hermanos de la Caridad'' (Brother of Charity). The ''Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán'' (Church of Saint Dominic of Guzman) was built on the ruins of the main pyramid of Oaxtepec. A major event occurred in 1964 when the ''Centro Vacacional

Adolfo López Mateos Adolfo López Mateos (; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964. Previously, he served as Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare, Secretary of Labor and Social ...

IMSS Oaxtepec'' (waterpark run by

Mexican Social Security Institute The Mexican Institute of Social Security (, IMSS) is a Federal government of the United Mexican States, governmental organization that assists public health, pensions and social security in Mexico operating under the Secretariat of Health (Mexic ...

) was built on 120 hectares of land. This was the most important water park in Latin America. In 2018 it was remodeled, sold to a private company, and renamed Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. A smaller water park called ''Parque Acuatico Oaxtepec'' (PAO) used to be in the area, but it was purchased by Hurricane Harbor.

Name and location

The etymology of Oaxtepec is from the

Nahuatl language Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

and it means "On the mountain of huajes". ''Huaje'' is the Mexican Spanish name for the leadtree, ''

Leucaena esculenta ''Leucaena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the family Fabaceae. It contains about 24 species of trees and shrubs, which are commonly known as leadtrees. They are native to the Americas, ...

'', whose fruits are edible and is a popular food in south-central Mexico. Oaxtepec is located at an altitude of above sea level. * from the municipal seat of Yautepec. * (21 minutes) from Cuautla, Morelos. * (44 minutes) from the state capital of

Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; , "near the woods" , Otomi language, Otomi: ) is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state, state of Morelos in Mexico. Along with Chalcatzingo, it is likely one of the origins of the Mesoamerica, Mesoamerican civilizatio ...

. * (1 hour, 47 minutes) via Mexican Federal Highway 113 or (1 hour, 29 minutes) via

Mexican Federal Highway 95D Federal Highway 95D is a toll highway connecting Mexico City to Acapulco, Guerrero. Highway 95D is among the most important toll roads in the country, serving as a backbone for traffic out of Mexico City toward Morelos and tourist destinations in ...

and Mexican Federal Highway 115D from Mexico City.

Places of interest

Monastery of Santo Domingo

The Ex-convento of Santo Domingo Félix de Guzmán was built by the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

between 1528 and 1580. The church was actually called Santiago Apóstol. It consists of an atrium opening onto the town's main plaza, a single

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, and two small chapels. There are two towers on the side. During the

Siege of Cuautla The siege of Cuautla was a battle of the War of Mexican Independence that occurred from 19 February through 2 May 1812 at Cuautla de Morelos, Cuautla, Morelos. The Spanish Royalist (Spanish American Revolution), royalist forces loyal to the ...

(1812), the church served as headquarters for General Leonardo Bravo. It also served as a headquarters for the Liberation Army of the South during the Mexican Revolution. Later it was a high school incorporated with the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos, (UAEM) and as the local House of Culture. A few years ago it was returned to the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Water Parks

Six Flags Hurricane Harbor is a chain of water parks headquartered in

Grand Prairie, Texas Grand Prairie is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas, Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant, and Ellis County, Texas, Ellis counties with a small part extending into Johnson County, Texas , Johnson county. It ...

. Features include a variety of body slides, speed slides, tube slides, wave pools, lazy rivers, and shopping areas. The Oaxtepec water park opened in 2017 and is one of the largest in Latin America. The water park opened as ''Centro Vacacional "Adolfo López Mateos" IMSS Oaxtepec'' on 120 hectares (300 acres) of land run by the

in 1964. In 1998, it was sold to a private company and reopened as "Parque Acuático Oaxtepec (PAO)"; the company went into bankruptcy in 2011, after which it was sold to Six Flags. The Social Security Institute runs hotels and campgrounds within the park. ''Balneario El Bosque Oaxtepec'' ("The Oaxtepec forest water park″) is a rustic water park with a suspension bridge, waterfalls, river, pools, and archeological zone. The ''Pozo Azul'' (Blue Pond) is believed to have been used by ''

Tlatoani ''Tlahtoāni'' ( , "ruler, sovereign"; plural ' ) is a historical title used by the dynastic rulers of (singular ''āltepētl'', often translated into English as "city-state"), autonomous political entities formed by many pre-Columbian Nahuatl- ...

in the 15th century.

Archeology

In addition to the archeological site within the water park named above, prehispanic ruins can be found on the ''Cerro de los Huajes'' ("Hill of leadtrees") near the cemetery. Ruins of the colonial (1586-1820) ''Hospital de la Santa Cruz,'' built by the Brothers of Charity (Spanish: ''Hospitalarios'') are near "El Bosque" water park.

Climate

References

Literature

External links

*
History of Oaxtepec (retrieved Dec 12, 2018)

Hurricane Harbor Oaxtepec (Spanish; retrieved Dec 12, 2018)
{{Authority control Populated places in Morelos Nahua settlements