Cuautla (
kwau-tlah), officially
La heroica e histórica Cuautla de Morelos, (
The Heroic and Historic Cuautla of Morelos) or
H. H. Cuautla de Morelos, is a city and
municipalityMunicipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico...
in the Mexican state of
MorelosMorelos is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. Morelos has an area of about , making it the second-smallest of the country's states. Morelos is bordered by Mexico State to the north-east and north-west, the Federal District to the north, Puebla to the east, and Guerrero to the south-west...
. In the 2005 census the city population was 145,482 and the municipality population was 160,285. The municipality covers 153.651 km² (59.325 sq mi). Cuautla is the third most populous city in the state, after
CuernavacaCuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It is also a municipality. It is located about south of Mexico City on the D-95 freeway....
and
JiutepecJiutepec is a city and its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Morelos.It stands at .The name Jiutepec comes from the Nahuatl name "Xiutepetl" that means "the precious stones hill". It has tourist attractions like spas. It has the hotel Ex-Hacienda de Cortez. It is a hotel and Hernan...
.
Cuautla (
kwau-tlah), officially
La heroica e histórica Cuautla de Morelos, (
The Heroic and Historic Cuautla of Morelos) or
H. H. Cuautla de Morelos, is a city and
municipalityMunicipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico...
in the Mexican state of
MorelosMorelos is one of the 31 constituent states of Mexico. Morelos has an area of about , making it the second-smallest of the country's states. Morelos is bordered by Mexico State to the north-east and north-west, the Federal District to the north, Puebla to the east, and Guerrero to the south-west...
. In the 2005 census the city population was 145,482 and the municipality population was 160,285. The municipality covers 153.651 km² (59.325 sq mi). Cuautla is the third most populous city in the state, after
CuernavacaCuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It is also a municipality. It is located about south of Mexico City on the D-95 freeway....
and
JiutepecJiutepec is a city and its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Morelos.It stands at .The name Jiutepec comes from the Nahuatl name "Xiutepetl" that means "the precious stones hill". It has tourist attractions like spas. It has the hotel Ex-Hacienda de Cortez. It is a hotel and Hernan...
. The city was founded on 4 April, 1829 and gets its name from the Nahuatl: "
Cuauhtlan", meaning "eagles' nest". The current municipal president (mayor) is Sergio Valdespín.
History
Cuautla was the scene of one of the fiercest battles of the
War of IndependenceThe Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The Mexican War of Independence movement was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought independence from Spain...
during a siege which began on February 19 and ended on May 2, 1812. The city was taken by forces of the priest and General José María Morelos y Pavón, who defended it against the Spaniard General Félix María Calleja for weeks before having to retreat.
During the
Mexican RevolutionThe Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910 with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements.Over time the Revolution...
Cuautla was the first city conquered by the forces of
Emiliano ZapataEmiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz...
, who was born in Anenecuilco, just south of Cuautla.
Attractions
The area is a tourist-friendly region with abundant hot springs and health spas/resorts. It features many archeological sites such as
ChalcatzingoChalcatzingo is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in the Valley of Morelos dating from the Formative Period of Mesoamerican chronology. The site is well-known for its extensive array of Olmec-style monumental art and iconography. Located in the southern portion of the Central Highlands of Mexico,...
and indigenous communities such as the
TepoztlánTepoztlán is a town in the Mexican state of Morelos. It is located at in the heart of the Tepoztlán Valley. The town serves as the seat of government for the municipality of the same name. The municipality reported 32,921 inhabitants in the 2000 national census.The town is a popular tourist...
and Tetelcingo among others.
Agua HediondaAgua Hedionda may refer to:* The Agua Hedionda Spa, a mineral spring day spa in Cuautla, Mexico* The Agua Hedionda Lagoon, a lagoon in Carlsbad, California...
, classified as one of the important water springs of the world due to its chemical composition, is also located in this little city. These waters have a characteristic smell reminiscent of rotten eggs because of their
sulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Sulfur, in its native form, is a yellow crystalline solid. In nature, it can be found as the pure element and as sulfide and sulfate minerals...
content.
The Morelos Museum contains artifacts and descriptions about Mexico's War of Independence from Spain. It honors José María Morelos, whose rebel troops managed to hold off Royalist troops for 58 days. The Museum adjoins the old narrow-gauge railroad which was used to haul sugar cane to the local mills. The narrow-gauge was retired in 1973. The tomb of the famous Mexican revolutionary hero
Emiliano ZapataEmiliano Zapata Salazar was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in 1910, and which was initially directed against the president Porfirio Díaz...
is also located in this city, and every year several festivities are held around the anniversary of his death.
Weather
The city is quite warm year-round.
In the winter, there is a slight decrease in both the daytime and nighttime temperatures, and because of Cuautla's proximity to the
Tropic of CancerThe Tropic of Cancer, or the Northern tropic, is one of five major degree measures or major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It is the northmost latitude at which the sun can appear directly overhead at noon...
and its altitude (about 4,500 feet above sea level), the nighttime temperatures year-round usually average about 57°F (14°C). On the other hand, because Cuautla is somewhat close to the
EquatorThe equator is the intersection of the Earth's surface with the plane perpendicular to the Earth's axis of rotation and containing the Earth's center of mass. In simpler language, it is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole that divides the Earth...
, temperatures year-round tend to reach into the mid 80s to lower 90s°F (upper 20s°C to the lower 30s°C) even during the winter, and in spring on many days the daytime temperatures may reach well into the upper 90s°F (upper 30s°C).
External links