Naucalpan

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Naucalpan de Juárez is a city and the seat of the municipality called Naucalpan de Juárez in the Mexican state of México.It borders the northwestern part of Distrito Federal, and it is part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, which is the second largest Metropolitan Area of the world. The city and the municipality are both the third-largest in the state of México in population, after Ecatepec de Morelos and Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl. Naucalpan is also the birthplace of the Mexican rock band Café Tacuba, whose members are often called "The Blessed Children of Naucalpan" by the media. The name Naucalpan derives from the Nahuatl "Nahui-Calli-Pan", which literally translates into "Four-House-Place". The derived meaning is "Place of the Four Houses", with the houses being Tlatilco (place of hidden things), Totoltepec (place of birds), Huitzilacasco (place between spears) and Totolinga (place of chickens)".The Nahuatl symbol for Naucalpan (often inaccurately referred to as its Coat of Arms) is composed of four concentric rings located on the upper part, above the symbol of Calpulli (house exerting the power); under them, the symbol for "land", and the symbol of Pan (place) in the bottom.^[1]

Nahuatl Symbol for Naucalpan

1 The city
- 1.1 History
- 1.2 The city today
2 The municipality
3 Sister cities
4 References
5 External links

[edit] The city

[edit] History

The Tlatilcan culture arrived to the lands of Naucalpan between the years 1700 to 600 BC. By 1400 BC the area had great influence and presence of Otomi groups, and was called Otocampulco (on the place of Otomies). The Chichimecan culture arrived between the years 1000 and 1200, and built the pyramid now known as "Pirámide del Conde", as it was found during the construction of a residential area of the same name. In 1428 the territory was claimed by the Tepanecan empire of Azcapotzalco, but after being defeated by the Aztec Triple Alliance the territory was given to the kingdom of Tlacopan, which later became known as Tacuba. It is at this time when the Mexica rulers gave the territory the name of Naucalpan.

In 1521, after the fall of Tenochtitlán and with the evangelization of Mesoamerican cultures, Naucalpan was renamed as "Saint Bartholome Naucalpan". On the event of the wedding of the Aztec princess Isabel Moctezuma Tecuichpo and Spaniard Alonso de Grado, Hernán Cortés conceded the territory of Tacuba (which included Naucalpan) as a wedding gift.

During the colonial period Naucalpan became an important mining place for sand, gravel and limestone and these were used to build of important churches and imperial buildings, such as the Mexico City Cathedral and the Mexican National Palace.

In 1574, the construction of a sanctuary for Our Lady of Los Remedios began, which concluded in August of 1575. This sanctuary was further expanded over the years, and in 2000 was elevated to the rank of Basilica.

In 1810, at the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence, the Spanish army brought the image of the Virgin of Los Remedios to the capital and dressed her as a captain, naming her "Guardian of the Spanish army", much to the discontent of the indigenous population of Naucalpan.

Naucalpan held special significance to Benito Juárez, who used it as a retreat after he returned from New Orleans, and in later years as a personal villa. It was from Naucalpan where Benito Juárez departed for Querétaro on November 5, 1860; a couple of months before he returned to Mexico City to establish unity.

Under Juárez's government, Naucalpan started its industrialization. Benito Juarez himself inaugurated the Río Hondo Fabrics Factory in 1869 (even though the factory was founded in 1867) and the "Mexicas Bridge", a path across the Río de los Remedios that helped establish a faster trade route between Naucalpan and Mexico City. Two years after Juárez died, on September 3, 1874, the congress of the State of México gave Naucalpan the category of village with the name "Villa de Juárez".

On December 8, 1894 a wooden bullfighting arena (the first Toreo) was built. 53 years later it would be moved to a new location (Cuatro Caminos) and rebuilt with steel.

On August 10, 1906, under Porfirio Díaz's rule, electricity was first introduced to Naucalpan.

During the Revolution years (1910-1920), many revolutionary figures emerged from Naucalpan, such as Román Díaz Rosas, Arnulfo Chávez, Alfredo Basurto García, Camilo Santos, Encarnación Díaz, Ezequiel Villaviscencio, Felipe Ángel Fortuño Miramón, Joaquín Bolaños Camacho, Luis Medina Barrón, Manuel Ramírez, Manuel Villanueva, Rodolfo González, and Toribio Velasco.

In 1947 the relocated Toreo de Cuatro Caminos was constructed. With a dome shaped structure and larger capacity than the former, it not only worked as a bullfighting arena but was also suited for concerts and other events. President Miguel Alemán Valdés was involved in the new Toreo project, as he owned the Rancho La Herradura, located in the northern part of Naucalpan.

Naucalpan achieved the category of City in 1957.

[edit] The city today

The city of Naucalpan had a 2005 census population of 792,226.^[2]

[edit] The municipality

As municipal seat, the city of Naucalpan de Juárez has governing jurisdiction over the following communities:Ampliación el Tejocote, Barrio Agua Buena, Barrio Arenillas (La Capilla), Barrio de Batha, Barrio de Juan Gómez, Barrio de San Miguel Dextha, Barrio de Tito, Barrio la Magnolia, Barrio la Viga (Cerro Loco), Barrio las Cruces, Barrio las Peñitas, Barrio las Salinas, Barrio San Miguel Dorami, Córdoba, Chimalpa Viejo, Cipreses (Las Julianas), Col. Luis Donaldo Colosio (Piedra de Alesna), Corral del Indio, Ejido de Chiluca (Pueblo de Chiluca), Ejido de San Francisco Chimalpa, Ejido del Tejocote, Ejido el Castillo, Ejido el Cristo, Ejido San Mateo Nopala (Bellavista), El Chabacano, El Cobradero, El Guardita, El Puerto, La Alameda (Criadero de Trucha la Alameda), La Arboleda, La Cebada (Barrio la Cebada), La Cuesta, La Hiedra, La Palma (Pie de la Palma), La Rosa, Las Arenillas, Las Ánimas (Ex-hacienda las Ánimas), Las Granjas, Las Mesas, Las Torres, Llano de las Flores (Barrio del Hueso), Minas del Tecolote, Minas el Capulín, Paraje las Rosas, Puente de Piedra, Rincón Verde, San Francisco Chimalpa, San José Tejamanil, Santiago Tepatlaxco, Tres Piedras (La Loma), Valle Tranquilo, and Villa Alpina.

The total area of the municipality is 149.86 km² (57.86 sq mi) and it has a total municipal population of 821,442. The city of Naucalpan occupies 45% of the municipality's territory.^[2] Its altitude varies between 2258 and 3650 m. above sea level. ^[1] The largest of the subject communities is San Francisco Chimalpa.

After the War of Independence ended, the town of Naucalpan became part of the neighbouring territory of Tlalnepantla, but with a government of its own. When the state of Mexico was founded on March 2, 1824, an election was called to form the first municipalities. As a result, on January 1, 1826 Naucalpan became a municipality separate from Tlalnepantla. In 1976 the Congress of the state gave the municipality its current name of Naucalpan de Juárez. In 1981 an ejidal area known as "Ejido de Oro" is turned into a municipal park, under the name of Naucalli; today it represents one of the main sources of oxygen of the urban zone. ^[1]

It is one of the state's most industrialized municipalities, second only to Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico. Because of the accelerated development of its industry, today Naucalpan is considered as one of the most important municipalities in Mexico. It also includes some notable communities such as Ciudad Satélite which began only in the middle of the 20th century, over the lands of Rancho La Herradura, which was sold by ex-president Miguel Alemán. Nevertheless, he kept a part of the land to himself and his family, and built a very large house where he spent the rest of his days. This community is now a middle-class to upper-class area. In 1963, the Plaza Satélite shopping center is built, across the street from Miguel Alemán's residence. This city is also known for the Torres de Satélite towers. Itis one of the country's first urban sculptures of great dimensions, and had its planning started in 1957 with the ideas of renowned Mexican architect Luis Barragán, painter Jesús Reyes Ferreira and sculpturer Mathias Goeritz.^[1]