Cintalapa

Cintalapa, officially called Cintalapa de Figueroa, is a Mexican city located in the state of Chiapas, head of the homonymous municipality and the 14th district of Chiapas. It is the seventh most populated city in the state.

Toponymy

The name Cintalapa is of Nahuatl origin and means: "water in the subsoil". On January 6, 1942, the surname Figueroa was added, in tribute to the memory of the poet Rodulfo Figueroa Esquinca.

History

In ancient times, Cintalapa was known by the name of Tlacuatzin, which means "hill of the opossums." But unfortunately an epidemic broke out and all the inhabitants who until then made up the community fell ill. The founders decided to relocate the town and moved it to a nearby valley known as Cintalapa.

The first culture to settle in the region was the Olmec, as attested by numerous archaeological remains. During the 11th or 12th century the Toltecs settled in the area; Later it was the Zoques who occupied the territory of the municipality. Between 1486 and 1488 the Aztecs arrived during one of the expeditions to conquer Ahuízotl. During the colonial era, Cintalapa was a cattle village according to the descriptions of Fray Bartolomé de las Casas and Tomás Gage when they passed through Cintalapa.

Geography

Cintalapa is located in the east of the municipality of the same name, in the west of Chiapas, near the border with the municipality of Jiquipilas.

It is located within a valley, on the edge of the mountain range. It is located 577 m s. n. m. and covers an area of 11.69 km².

Demography

According to the census carried out in 2020 by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in Cintalapa there were a total of 49,201 inhabitants, of which 25,651 were women and 23,550 were men.

Graphic of demographic evolution of Cintalapa between 1900 and 2020

Source: National Institute of Statistics and Geography.

Political division

The city of Cintalapa has neighborhoods and colonies.

Neighborhoods of Cintalapa

Tepeyac neighborhood, San Martín, Guadalupe, Santo Domingo, Central neighborhood, Santa Cecilia, San Francisco, San Marcos, October 4, La Obrera Campesina, Los Laureles, La Esmeralda, Social Security, Los Girasoles, February 14, Juan Sabines, Salomón Blanco and el Mirador.

Colonies within the urban area of Cintalapa

Frac. Juan Sabines, Urban Colony, Col. Linda Vista and Insurgentes.

Other colonies of Cintalapa

Gustavo Díaz Ordaz, Rodulfo Figueroa, Ramón E. Balboa, Flor de Chiapas, Hierba Santa, Nuevo Tenochtitlan, Rosendo Salazar, Corazón de Valle, Valle de Corzo, Samuel León Brindis, Villa Morelos, Vista Hermosa, Roberto Barrios, Tehuacán, Bethel, La Asunción, Mérida, Pomposo Castellanos, Lázaro Cárdenas, Esperanza de los Pobres, Nueva Libertad, Eloy Borras, San Joseito, Las Maravillas, Jorge de la Vega, Monte Sinaí, Ciénega de León, Abelardo Rodríguez, Emiliano Zapata, Venustiano Carranza, Mariano P. Díaz, Plan de Guadalupe, Simón Bolívar, Constitución, Gen. Rafael Cal y Mayor, Las Merceditas.

Religion

76.86% of the population professes the Catholic religion, 9.23% Protestant, 4.84% non-evangelical biblical and 8.18% does not profess a creed. At the regional level the behavior is: Catholic 75.54%, Protestant 6.89%, biblical non-evangelical 8.82% and 7.81% do not profess a creed. While in the state it is 63.83%, 13.92%, 7.96% and 13.07% respectively.

The Candlemas Festival

The Festival in honor of the Virgin of Candelaria in the city of Cintalapa goes back to the origins of this community, as mentioned by Quintín Acosta Cruz, a Cintalapanec chronicler, from the colonization of Mexico, the newly arrived Spaniards began to found small farms on the large tracts of land that were bequeathed to them by the authorities of that time, working the land with the diversification of crops and raising animals to satisfy their own and the workers' food needs.

With the passage of time, residents from various places approached the farms with the highest production in search of work, achieving their goal, forming families with the locals, with the growth of the population, the landowners provided groups with their workers with portions of land close to the farms and this is how the creation of some of the first population centers surrounding these centers of agricultural and livestock production in our region began.

In one of these population centers called “Tlacuatzin” the tradition of the Virgin of Candelaria begins. Acosta says that in the chapel of “Tlacuatzin” a Virgin brought by the Spanish Friars called “Virgen de la Candelaria” was venerated, very miraculous and with a large number of devotees.

The town “Tlacuatzin” was declining and finally abandoned by its inhabitants, some of whom settled in what was called at that time, Villa de Cintalapa, bringing with them, among other customs, the devotion to the Virgin of Candelaria, tradition that was well received by the locals, who over time and with the support of the priests assigned to the place made it grow and passed it on to children, family, friends and neighbors.

With the growth of the population, the migration of the natives to various places carrying the tradition and returning to celebrate on the days of the festival, celebrated on the second of February, with pilgrimages, offerings and various religious acts typical of the Catholic tradition. The celebration began to grow and with it the approach of street vendors of various items, which at that time were naturally new and some even unknown to curious buyers.

Currently the annual Candelaria fair, whose main date is February 2, has a strong economic and religious weight within the social flow of the city.

Places of interest

• Sustainable reserve "Los Ocotones".
• Central Park (or Candelaria).
• Garzas Sanctuary.
• Ecotourism center "New World".
• Art Gallery, Cintalapa.
• Ecotourism center "Arc de Tiempo".
• Carriles San Juan.
• Presa Tolan.
• Exhacienda La Providencia.