Tacámbaro 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 western part of 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 ...

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

. Its largest city and municipal seat is Heroica Tacámbaro de Codallos. The city is located at . In the 2020 census, the municipality's population was 81,105, positioning it as the 12th largest municipality in the state. The municipality has an area of .

History

Prior to Mexican independence

Tacámbaro's origins go back to pre-Hispanic times. The

purépecha The Purépecha ( ) are a group of Indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the derogatory term " Tarascan", an exonym, app ...

s conquered the city in the first half of the 14th century. In 1528, it was awarded as an ''

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 ...

'' to

Cristóbal de Oñate Cristóbal de Oñate (1504 — October 6, 1567) was a Spanish Basque explorer, conquistador and colonial official in New Spain. He is considered the founder of the contemporary city of Guadalajara in 1531, as well as other places in Nueva Gali ...

, and the town was formally established in 1535. Five years later, a chapel and convent were founded in the town. In 1631, a ''partido de indios'' was established with Tacámbaro as the capital. Epidemics of disease, particularly that of 1575, had stripped the town of much of its population. By 1631, it had eight communities and a small population. In 1706, Fray Francisco de Fonseca was designated as the town prior. He introduced a street grid, water sources and a reconstructed convent.

Mexican independence and beyond

After the war of independence, Tacámbaro's ''haciendas'' and ''ranchos'' were burned down and the town was left in ruins. Reconstruction, however, promptly led Tacámbaro to grow and receive new statuses. In 1828, it was declared a villa by Governor José Salgado; three years later, the municipality was formed as a consequence of a new territorial law. In 1859, Governor Gen. Epitacio Huerta declared Tacámbaro a city and gave it the name Ciudad de Codallos, in honor of General , who participated in the war of independence. The local residents petitioned for the name to be changed to Tacámbaro de Codallos, which was accepted. In 1865, a battle was fought at Tacámbaro during the French Intervention in Mexico. In late 1919, during the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

, Tacámbaro briefly served as the state capital. In November 2012, Tacámbaro was designated a Pueblo Mágico. It is the sixth municipality in the state to receive this distinction.

Demographics

The municipality of Tacámbaro has 69,955 inhabitants, of which 34,010 are men and 35,945 are women. The municipality has some 200 individual communities, of which the largest is Heroica Tacámbaro de Codallos with a population of 25,665. Six other communities have more than 1,000 inhabitants.

References

External links