Zinacantepec

Zinacantepec
Municipality
Main Plaza of Zinacantepec
Main Plaza of Zinacantepec
Official seal of Zinacantepec
Zinacantepec is located in Mexico
Zinacantepec
Zinacantepec
Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 19°17′00″N 99°44′00″W / 19.28333°N 99.73333°W / 19.28333; -99.73333
Country Mexico
StateState of Mexico
Municipal SeatSan Miguel Zinacantepec
Municipality Created1826
Government
 • Municipal President
Manuel Vilchis Viveros (2022-2024)
Area
 • Municipality308.68 km2 (119.18 sq mi)
Elevation
(of seat)
2,740 m (8,990 ft)
Population
 (2005) Municipality
 • Municipality136,167
 • Seat
46,569
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (US Central))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (Central)
Postal code (of seat)
51350
Area code722
Website(in Spanish) /Official site

Zinacantepec is a municipality located just west of the city of Toluca in Mexico State, Mexico.[1] The municipal seat is the town of San Miguel Zinacantepec. Zinacantepec is Nahuatl for "bat mountain" and its Aztec glyph is a bat on a mountain.[1] It is named after a small mountain which contained two caves which used to be filled with thousands of bats.[2]

In the 18th century, the residents of this mountain moved to settle alongside the Franciscan monastery established here in the 16th century.[2] This monastery is the best preserved of a network of missionaries established in the Toluca Valley in the mid 16th century. Today, the complex functions as the parish church, with the cloister dedicated as the colonial era museum of the state of Mexico.[3]

  1. ^ a b "Enciclopedia de los Municipios de Mexico Estado de Mexico Zinacantepec" (in Spanish). INAFED. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Cruz, Raúl (November 1, 2008). "Dan identidad a Zinacantepec" [They give identity to Zinacantepec]. Reforma (in Spanish). Mexico City. p. 6.
  3. ^ "Zinacantépec, a colonial convento near Toluca, Mexico". Exploring Colonial Mexico The Espadaña Press Web site. Archived from the original on September 19, 2010. Retrieved March 3, 2010.