Tacuba

Tacuba is a colony and native town in the west of Mexico City located in the Miguel Hidalgo mayor's office. Its territorial limits are to the north with Primavera and Av. Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, to the north-west with Av. Azcapotzcalco and Calzada Legaria, to the west with Av. Marina Nacional, Lago Superior and Lago Taulebe, to the south with Felipe Carrillo Puerto, to the northeast with Baffin Sea and Berhing Sea and finally to the east with the Gulf of California and the Irish Sea.

The surrounding colonies are to the north with Ángel Zimbrón and San Álvaro belonging to the Azcapotzalco mayor's office, to the west with San Diego Ocoyoacac, Torre Blanca and Legaria, to the south with San Juanico and finally to the southeast and east with Popotla.

Origin of the name

Originally called Tlacopan, it means "Place on the rods" (from the Nahuatl tlacotl, "vara", -pan, "place on").

Today, Tacuba is known as a neighborhood located in the Miguel Hidalgo mayor's office and in Azcapotzalco, in Mexico City, and also as two streets: one of the main avenues (Calzada México-Tacuba), which It runs through the entire city, and Tacuba Street, in the historic center of Mexico City, but in the past it was one of the important Mesoamerican lordships that were established on the west bank of the Valley of Mexico.^{[ citation required]}

Brief history

Seated in the fertile lands of the then western shore of Lake Texcoco, was the manor of Tlacopan. Founded by Tlacomatzin, it was subject to the Tepanec lordship in Azcapotzalco, the largest and most stable lordship of the Central Plateau to date. To overthrow Azcapotzalco, Tlacopan allied itself with the lordships of Tenochtitlan and Texcoco in the Triple Alliance, in the year 1428 AD. C.. The Triple Alliance overthrew Azcapotzalco, and Tlacopan received one fifth of the total taxation of the conquered peoples.^{[citation required]}

Subsequently, among these three lordships, that of the Mexica in Tenochtitlan stood out militarily and politically, and ended up prevailing over its two allies. Tlacopan, smaller than Texcoco, yielded more quickly to Mexica will, while Texcoco, led by cosmopolitan leaders, relatively more successfully maintained its autonomy from the ruling houses in Tenochtitlán.^{[citation required]}

During the 100 years that followed the overthrow of Azcapotzalco and that ended with the Spanish Conquest, the empire centered on Mexico-Tenochtitlán developed a series of hydraulic and architectural works that would change the view of the residents of Tlacopan. One of the four roads that connected the islet of Mexico-Tenochtitlán with the shores of the lake was precisely the Mexico-Tacuba road, which practically follows the same route to this day, starting from the Plaza de la Constitución in Mexico City (Zócalo). and arriving at Tacuba. Along its route it takes the names of Avenida Hidalgo, Puente de Alvarado, Rivera de San Cosme and Calzada México Tacuba (colloquially known as Tacuba).

In the heart of Tlacopan, today near the intersection of México-Tacuba and Mariano Escobedo avenues, there is still an old ahuehuete tree, well known as the Tree of the Sad Night. It is said that this is the place where Hernán Cortés lamented his first defeat against the Mexica Empire, on June 30 in 1520. In the attempted retreat, Cortés' army found nothing but the narrow path of the causeway surrounded by the waters of the lake. When Cortés attacked Mexico-Tenochtitlán, one of the first details that he assured was to pave and drain the road in case of a second eventuality, buildings were collapsed and the rubble was thrown into the ditches. The new solid terrain was just the beginning of another long period of changes that the landscape of the town of Tlacopan would undergo.

The conception of pre-Hispanic politics changed until the conquest of Mexico by Hernán Cortés in 1521. However, given the system of alliances that Hernán Cortés followed, some of these changes were established gradually. First, Tacuba was granted as an encomienda to Isabel Moctezuma, daughter of Moctezuma Xocoyotzin, by Cortés himself. Later, a series of haciendas were founded in its surroundings such as Hacienda Pensil, Hacienda de San Antonio Clavería and La Hacienda de los Morales. For people from Mexico City all of these are familiar names; To cite some well-known examples today are the great Colonia Pensil and the restaurant La Hacienda de los Morales, one of the most capricious representatives of Mexican food.

Returning to the historical order, the Franciscan order founded the current parish and convent of San Gabriel, today the main Catholic parish in the area. Some time later the Carmelite convent of San Joaquín was established. The development of Tacuba in the subsequent centuries until the beginning of the XIX century was ironically closely linked to the population of Azcapotzalco. Towards the end of this century, country suburbs were seen emerging, which would later evolve into today's large colonies. Such is the case of Popotla, Casco de Santo Tomás and San Álvaro. All of these preserve structures from the 19th century and the beginning of the XX, as well as some of the first country villas near the city.

Today, with a clearly larger Mexico-Tacuba Causeway, Tacuba is one of the large colonies, within the Miguel Hidalgo mayor's office, in one of the largest cities in the world. The familiarity of Tacuba's name is due in part to its size, and in part to all the citizens who had never set foot in the place, because it is the original destination of the second line of the metro public transport system.

Being a place of such size and such diffuse delimitation, it is natural to have a divided vision regarding its current state. You cannot avoid seeing the deterioration of some of the historical monuments due to street vendors or informal commerce in the city. In other more encouraging cases such as the Hacienda de los Morales, the picturesque character of the days of yesteryear has found a way to survive and in some other cases they have been modernized as is the case with the creation of the Bicentennial Park (Mexico City). from a refinery in this district.

Evolution of the town of Tacuba

Of pre-Hispanic origins, the famous town of Tacuba underwent various transformations throughout the XX century that changed much of his physiognomy. Among the points of interest in this town, some still exist, while others have disappeared:

The temple of San Gabriel Archangel

It was the main parish of an extensive region that covered eighteen towns, from San Bartolomé Naucalpan and San Lorenzo Tlaltenango to San Esteban Popotla. Completed around 1573, it underwent various interior and exterior modifications, particularly in 1755, 1871 and in the mid-seventies. To the right of the temple extends the atrium that later became the Juárez Garden, famous for the dance competitions that were held in the kiosk. This area almost completely disappeared with the arrival of metro line 7 in 1984.

The municipal palace of Tacuba

It was located in front of the temple of San Gabriel, with the façade facing the Mexico-Tacuba Causeway. After the abolition of the municipal regime in 1929, it continued to be occupied by various offices and underwent minor changes on the outside; It was finally demolished around 1960 and now the place is occupied by trees and street stalls. Between this building and the avenue there was a roundabout with a bust of Felipe Carrillo Puerto.

The statue of José María Morelos

It was in a triangular garden located on the Mexico-Tacuba Causeway, between the Gulf of Campeche and the Gulf of Mexico. This space was lost when said artery was expanded in the seventies; According to the book Microhistorias de Tacuba, the statue was moved to the city of Veracruz. The neighboring Morelos Institute owes its name to her.

The old market

This construction with a quarry façade and a gable roof, which had replaced the original flea market, dominated the corner of the Mexico-Tacuba and Arabian Sea Roads at the beginning of the century XX. Over time it became insufficient; For several decades the semi-permanent stalls occupied the north lane of the avenue, until in 1956 the new market was built on the opposite sidewalk. The previous one was replaced by a civic court and by the MH-1 Territorial Coordination of the capital police.

The Castle

On Lago Güija street, between Golfo de San Lorenzo and the current National Marina, was the property known as "El Castillo". It was a chalet that had belonged to a German family during the Porfiriato, and stood out for being on the top of a small mound commonly called 'El Cerrito de Tacuba'; According to various sources, this corresponded to the main teocalli of ancient Tlacopan, located in the center of a large ceremonial enclosure. The house was demolished in 1970 to build the García Stores.

The National School of Chemical Sciences

This complex, part of the National University of Mexico, was erected in 1916 next to the Central Railway track; In his classrooms Gregorio & # 34; Goyo & # 34; studied. Cárdenas, a resident of the area, who in 1942 would go down in history as 'The Strangler of Tacuba'. After the institution moved to the University City, the property housed the National School of Plastic Arts and the Tacuba Popular High School; It is currently the headquarters of the Roberto Medellín Foundation of the UNAM Faculty of Chemistry.^{[citation required]}

The Tacuba Trail

Considered the first in the country, and for a long time the most hygienic, the Tacuba Rastro was inaugurated in 1929. It occupied an L-shaped property that had an entrance on Lago Gascasónica street and another on the side of the street. Cañito, and in 1958, with the opening of the Rastro de Ferrería, it gave way to the Center for Administrative Sanctions and Social Integration, which inherited from it the popular nickname of "Torito".^{[citation required]}

La Perulera

The residence located on the corner of Felipe Carrillo Puerto and Golfo de Aden, known as Hacienda El Portal or La Perulera, dates back to 1735, although it was later remodeled. This property had a bullring in the back, which was demolished between 1934 and 1938; The house was inhabited until the middle of the XX century and in 1986 it was leased by the ISSSTE to establish a cultural center and library there, which fell into abandonment at the beginning of the last decade. Today it is in the process of being acquired by the government of the Miguel Hidalgo district.

The Mexican Pensil

It was one of the most extraordinary recreational properties in the city. Decorated in baroque style, this garden dates back to 1766 and had an area of three thousand square meters; Today it is in ruins on Lago Chiem Street, in front of the neighborhood to which it gives its name. The Pensil was part of a group of tyvolis that were on the Mexico-Tacuba road and its surroundings; It was established near the San Joaquín River and was even used as a rest house by Viceroy Bernardo de Gálvez, in addition to serving as the stage for the premiere of the waltz Las flores del Pensil, performed by Ángela Peralta. Scene of legends of buried treasures and ghosts, it was declared a historical monument in 1932, which has not prevented the abandonment and mutilation of the garden and chapel.^{[citation required]}

Famous residents

• Carlos Jiménez Mabarak (1916-1994) Featured Mexican composer and representative of the music of the centuryXX.. In 1994, he received the National Prize for Science and Arts in the area of Fine Arts for 1993. He was born in Tacuba.