Xalapa-Enriquez

Xalapa-Enríquez (in Nahuatl, Xalapan, lit. 'spring in the sand' AFI: [ʃaːlaːpan̥]), known simply as Xalapa, is a Mexican city, head of the homonymous municipality and capital and most populated city in the state of Veracruz. It belongs to the metropolitan area of Xalapa, also made up of nine other municipalities surrounding the city. It receives the names of "Athens of Veracruz", for the various educational and cultural institutions that have been founded there, and "City of Flowers", a name that Alexander von Humboldt gave it during his visit to the city in 1804.

The city, located in the center of the state and approximately 280 kilometers east of Mexico City, borders Banderilla, Jilotepec and Naolinco to the north, Coatepec to the south, Tlalnelhuayocan to the west and Actopan and Emiliano to the east Shoe. Its 124.38 km² extension represents 0.17% of the Veracruz territory. It is located at an altitude of 1420 meters above sea level. In 2010, it registered a human development index of 0.817. According to the 2014 Economic Censuses, the main economic activities of the municipality and the metropolitan area are those related to private non-financial services.

Although it is the product of debate, its origin is considered to date back to 1313, the year in which it was founded by indigenous groups. With the conquest and thanks to its position with respect to the Camino Real Veracruz-México, the town began to expand and establish itself as a place of passage. However, it gained importance for its trade fairs. In 1791, it was granted the title of town and a coat of arms. In 1821, Santa Anna took the city and, once independence was consummated, in 1824 it was designated the capital of the newly created state of Veracruz. In 1892 it was renamed Xalapa de Enríquez, in honor of Juan de la Luz Enríquez.

According to figures from the 2020 Population and Housing Census of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), Xalapa-Enríquez had a population of 488,531 inhabitants, making it the most populous city in the state.

Xalapa houses the three branches of government of the state, in addition to the rectory of the Universidad Veracruzana. It has historical buildings, such as the Metropolitan Cathedral of Xalapa and the Xalapeño Stadium, and is the headquarters of sports teams, such as the Chileros de Xalapa, belonging to the state baseball league, and other organizations, such as the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra, the oldest of the country.

Toponymy

Xalapa was originally founded by Totonac-speaking groups, with the Toltecs giving the town its name Xalla-pan, which means “water in the sandbank” or "sand spring" 3. 4; since from one of its original neighborhoods, between the sandy slopes, abundant water flowed.

• During the colonial period the Spanish castellanized their name to Jalapa.

• In 1804, Alexander von Humboldt visited Xalapa and named it City of the Flowers.

• It is also known as The Athens Veracruzana because at the end of the centuryXIX Several educational institutions were created including the first Normal School in Mexico.

• In 1892, the city is called Jalapa de Enríquez, in honor of the late governor Juan de la Luz Enríquez Lara who promoted to the legislature of the State to make the city of Xalapa the Capital of the State of Veracruz.

• In 1978, the Legislature of the State of Veracruz issued the decree authorizing the use of the graph X in writing Xalapa de Enríquez.

• The official name of the city is Xalapa-Enríquez, although it is mostly known as Xalapa.

• Xalapa also writes Jalapa, and although it is written with “X” it is pronounced with “J”.

History

Xalapa engraving in 1847

Xalapa's roots date back to pre-Hispanic times. According to the Anales de Cuautitlán, by the XII century Xalapa or Xallac existed, that is to say: “place of the waters sandy”. The old indigenous hamlet, located in the region of the great mountains after the Conquest would give rise to the colonial town. From very early dates, Xalapa became a necessary stopover on the road that went up from the lowlands of the tropics to the central table. Officials, notable figures and all kinds of travelers made the old and dispersed indigenous hamlet an indispensable stop, a resting place from the dangers and inconveniences of the hot land, which they left behind terrified by fear of fevers, and a place of preparation for the continuation of the trip. But Xalapa was considered not just a refuge on the road, but a charming place. Travelers in particular were fascinated by the surrounding landscape. Thanks to its geographical location, the Jalapeña region - where the dry tropical zone and the humid temperate zone meet - had a great variety of plant species.

Foundation

Around three named springs: Xallapam, Xallitic and Techacapan, in a time that preceded the Christian era, a group of Totonac families congregated and gave rise to Xalapa, in 1519, its inhabitants received in peace and gave lodging to Hernán Cortés and his army of conquerors, supporting the policy of the Totonacs of Cempoala.

After 1521, Xalapa was not entrusted to any conqueror, but was reserved for tribute to the royal crown.

Xalapa in the years of New Spain

In 1555, the Franciscan Convent of Xalapa was completed, the second most important in New Spain. For three centuries, the development of Xalapa was characterized by periods of slow growth of prosperity, sluggishness and economic depression. In the 18th century, the Spanish Crown, in an attempt to make better use of its colonies, sought to revitalize its fleet system and fairs. From 1720 to 1776, the Xalapa trade fair was established as the most important in New Spain. With the celebration of this fair, the population saw its inhabitants multiply, its businesses and the number of houses, stores and inns increased. The site was then known as Xalapa de la Feria.

On May 18, 1784, José María Alfaro raised a hot air balloon in Xalapa, the first to rise in New Spain.^{[citation required]} However It was not until December 18, 1791 that the importance of Xalapa as a population within the central region of the Veracruz intendancy increased when King Carlos IV categorized Xalapa as Villa and it obtained its own Coat of Arms. In 1795 The First Xalapeño Town Hall is installed.

Humboldt's Voyage

Alexander von Humboldt.

Alexander von Humboldt, who arrived in Xalapa on February 10, 1804, mentions about the city:

Jalapa or Xalapa (Xallapan) at the foot of the Macuiltépetl basalt mountain, in a very pleasant situation. The convent of San Francisco, like all those founded by Cortés, appears from afar as a fortress, since in the early days of the conquest they built the convents and churches in such a way that they could serve as a defense in the event of an insurrection on the part of the indigenous people. In this convent you can enjoy a magnificent view, discovering from it the colossal peaks of Cofre de Perote and Orizaba, the foot of the mountain range (towards El Lencero, Los otates and Apazapan), the Antigua river, and the ocean. The thick forests of styrax, piper, melastomes and tree ferns, particularly the one that crosses the path of Pacho and San Andrés, the shores of the small lake of Los Berros and the heights that lead to the town of Coatepec, offer very pleasant walks. The Xalapa sky, beautiful and serene in summer, inspires melancholy from December to February; Every time the north wind blows in Veracruz, it covers the inhabitants of Xalapa with a thick mist, and then the thermometer drops to 5 or 16 °C. In the northern station many times 2 or 3 weeks go by without seeing the sun or the stars. The richest merchants of Veracruz have country houses in Xalapa, where they enjoy a pleasant coolness, while mosquitoes, great heat, and yellow fever make resistance on the coast very unpleasant. In this small city there is an establishment whose existence confirms what I have said above about the progress of the intellectual culture of the kingdom of Mexico; an excellent school of drawing, founded a few years ago, in which the boys of the poor artisans are instructed at the expense of the more affluent citizens. Xalapa is 1,460 meters above sea level.^{[citation required]}

Independent Mexico

View of Xalapa in a lithography of the mid-centuryXIX

• In 1824, the first Legislature of the State of Veracruz was installed in Xalapa and the town declared the capital of the State of Veracruz.^{[chuckles]required]}

• In 1830, Xalapa was categorized as City.^{[chuckles]required]}

• In 1843, the National College of Xalapa, the current Preparatory College of Xalapa (known as the Juarez Preparatory), was founded by Antonio María de Rivera.^{[chuckles]required]}

• In 1885, General Juan de la Luz Enríquez Lara returned to Xalapa the powers of the State, which were in Orizaba.^{[chuckles]required]}

• In 1901, the Interoceanic Railway Mexico-Veracruz.^{[chuckles]required]}

• In 1905, a group of Xalapine workers made the first strike in the country.^{[chuckles]required]}

• In 1920, the City of Xalapa, its capital character of the State of Veracruz, was replaced and the decree establishing the School of State Law was published.^{[chuckles]required]}

• On January 4, 1920, a 6.4-degree earthquake in ritchter scale, with epicenter in the community of Quimixtlán, Puebla, shakes the city of Xalapa causing 650 deaths – 419 for sludge avalanches from the degajamiento de cerros – as well as material damage.^{[chuckles]required]}
• On the morning of August 28, 1924, which was allegedly a robbery at a factory, resulted in the rapture and later murder of 12 workers. The motive apparently was theft, however other versions ensure that it was for political reasons, the purpose, to liquidate the leaders of the Workers' Movement, radical workers belonging to the Communist Central of Mexico. Some of the so-called Martyrs of August 28, killed, were: Fidencio Ocaña, José Hernández, Francisco Moreno, Alberto Calderón, Ezequiel Alatriste, Manuel Hernández, Isauro Sánchez, Ignacio Viveros, Teodoro Avendaño and Armando Ramírez all remembered in each of the streets of the neighborhood of San Bruno, in Xalapa Veracruz.

Coat of arms of Xalapa

Gun Shield of the city of Xalapa.

The King of Spain, Carlos IV, by means of a decree dated December 18, 1791, declared the town of Xalapa a Villa and granted it a coat of arms. This certificate was corroborated on June 22, 1793. The original title of Villa and the Coat of Arms are still preserved in the Municipal Palace of the city.

The Cedula Real describes the meaning of the characteristics of the Coat of Arms as follows:

• The light on the five hills indicates the ancestral influence that determines in its inhabitants the benign, gentle and temperate temperate temperament.

• Xalapa is located at the foot of the hill called Macuiltépetl (from the voice macuilli=cinco y tépetl=cerro, five hills or fifth hill in the altiplano route to the Gulf of Mexico). That's why the image of the five hills at the center of the shield.

• The orla with the name of Xalapa has six roots or fruits with its leaves, which alluded to the great appreciation that had in Europe a purgant obtained from the root of Xalapa.

• The mercury shell and caducer represented the trade in America-Europe that had its apogee during the centuryXVIII.

• The cornucopia of Amaltea or horn of abundance is related to the abundant vegetation, the variety of fruits and flowers of the region.

• The laurel, the palm and other ornaments that surround them are Greek-Latin symbols of victory and faith.

Chronology of municipal presidents

Name	Party	Year
Ricardo Ahued Bardahuil		2022 - 2026
Pedro Hipólito Rodríguez Herrero		2018 - 2022
Américo Zúñiga Martínez		2014 - 2018
Elizabeth Morales García		2011 - 2014
David Velasco Chedrahui		2008 - 2011
Ricardo Ahued Bardahuil		2005 - 2008
Armida Ramírez		December 2004
Reynaldo Escobar Pérez		2001 - 2004
Rafael Hernández Villalpando		1998 - 2001
María Amparo Álvarez Castilla		1997
Carlos Rodríguez Velasco		1994 - 1996
Armando Méndez de la Luz		1991-1994
Guillermo Héctor Zúñiga Martínez		1988 - 1991
Manuel Fernández Ávila		1986 - 1988
Salvador Valencia Carmona		1985 - 1986
Ignacio González Rebolledo		1983 - 1985
Enrique Hernández Crisanto		1982 - 1983
Carlos Padilla Becerra		1979 - 1982
Pedro Pérez		1970 - 1973
Ruben Pabello Acosta		1955 - 1958
Luis G. Murillo		1952 - 1955
Jorge Barclay		1950 - 1952
Marcelino Murrieta		1948 - 1949
Francisco Navarrete Blanco		1947 - 1948
Manuel González		1946 - 1947
Enríque César Velarde		1946
Elfego Sánchez		1945
Guillermo Tamborrell		1944
Luis Benítez		1942-1943
Pablo H. Medina		1941

Geography

Physiography

The city is located on the eastern foothills of Cofre de Perote (4282 m.a.s.l.) so its ground is irregular, without notable accidents, its main height being the Cerro de Macuiltépetl that rises at 1587 ms. no. m..

Hydrography

• Ruins and springs: Chiltoyac, Ánimas, Xallitic, Techacapan and Tlalmecapan.
• Rios: Headquarters, Carneros, Sordo, Santiago, Zapotillo, Castillo and Coapexpan.
• Various artificial lakes and some natural.

Climate

The climate is humid and varied, with a maximum temperature of 34.3 °C and a minimum from 2 to 5 °C in the morning. The altitude of the city ranges from 1,250 m s. no. m. up to 1,560 m s. no. m.. It has an average annual temperature of 18 °C and a humid temperate climate. Its average annual rainfall is 1,436 mm. Snowfalls in winter are common in Perote, Veracruz, located 35 minutes from this Capital.

Average Xalapa climate parameters
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	32.4	33.4	37.4	37.0	38.4	36.0	31.5	31.9	32.4	32.9	33.0	32.5	38.4
Average temperature (°C)	21.2	22.5	25.4	27.2	27.7	26.3	25.3	26.0	25.5	24.3	23.0	21.7	24.7
Average temperature (°C)	15.8	16.5	19.2	21.0	21.9	21.1	20.3	20.7	20.5	19.3	17.7	16.4	19.2
Temp. medium (°C)	10.4	10.5	13.0	14.8	16.1	15.9	15.3	15.4	15.6	14.3	12.5	11.0	13.7
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	0.2	0.0	2.8	4.0	7.0	9.0	9.0	9.5	9.8	5.0	-2.2	0.9	-2.2
Total precipitation (mm)	41.2	42.8	44.7	61.7	100.7	288.1	219.4	164.2	249.6	113.5	64.6	45.3	1435.8
Precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	12.4	11.9	11.1	9.4	11.1	19.6	19.0	16.5	19.3	16.9	12.6	13.0	172.8
Hours of sun	143	133	166	155	159	138	215	168	132	145	154	142	1850
Relative humidity (%)	67	63	63	60	63	68	67	66	69	69	67	68	66
Source No. 1: National Meteorological Service (humidity 1981–2000)
Source No. 2: Deutscher Wetterdienst (sun, 1961–1990)

Wildlife

There is a great variety of wild animal species in the mountains surrounding the town, some are: skunk , coyote, opossum, rabbit, wild cat, squirrel, gopher (mole), armadillo, porcupine, badger, and raccoon. It also has some varieties of snakes or snakes, as well as lizards and frogs. With regard to birds, you can see swallows, chachalacas, woodpeckers, parrots, owls, thrushes, eagles and hawks. It also has other or more species of animals, both birds or birds, and terrestrial animals and some other aquatic ones.

Flora

According to the type of climate it presents and the surrounding topography, Xalapa is characterized by having among its vegetation the mountain cloud forest, in which we can find trees with a height that goes from 15 to 35 meters high; It is generally a dense forest, the trunks of the trees can reach 2 meters in diameter and can be both evergreen and deciduous (losing their leaves in the cold months of the year), in such a way that the forest is never without greenery. This type of forest develops at an altitude of around 500 and up to 2,000 meters above sea level, and maintains an average annual temperature that can vary between 12 and 23 °C. Due to these characteristics, this forest is often found in fragments with very specific microclimatic conditions. Among the most representative species of its vegetation is the Liquidambar (Liquidambar styraciflua). Predominant vegetative genera: Inga, Quercus, Juglans, Ficus, Fagus, Cornus, Clethra, Carpinus and Ulmus; Fruit trees: Peach, Lemon, Orange, Eggplant, Guava, Banana, Loquat, Cherimoya; Food species: Corn, Vegetables, Beans, Pumpkin, Chayote; Ornamental Plants: Roses, Camellias, Orange Blossoms, Gardenias, Tulips, Medicinal plants: Chamomile, Ruda, Higuerilla, Sauco, Gordolobo, Yerbabuena and the famous Xalapa Root. It is important to mention that much of the primary vegetation of Xalapa has been modified and has been transformed into agroforestry systems such as coffee that is intermingled mainly with areas of holm oaks.

Demographics

According to the 2020 INEGI Population and Housing Census, the municipality of Xalapa has 488,531 inhabitants, making it the second most populous city in the state of Veracruz and the 38th most populous city in Mexico.

Xalapa Metropolitan Area

Until 2010, the Xalapa Metropolitan Area was made up of the municipalities of Xalapa, Banderilla, Coatepec, Emiliano Zapata, Jilotepec, Rafael Lucio and Tlalnelhuayocan. However, in 2015, in addition to these municipalities, Coacoatzintla was incorporated and Xico. It is the second most populous in the State with 789,157 inhabitants in 2020.

Education

School C. Rébsamen

Illiteracy is 6% of the municipal population over 15 years of age.^{[citation required]}

Basic education is provided by 195 preschool, 196 primary and 97 secondary schools. It also has 86 institutions that offer the baccalaureate, as well as a middle technical and professional education center (CONALEP). It has several institutions of higher education, of which the Universidad Veracruzana (UV) stands out, which has its headquarters and the most important campus in this city, an autonomous and public institution, which is also the most important in the entire state and one of the most prestigious nationally.^{[citation required]}

Public universities

Gymnasium of Veracruzan University, known as Nido del Halcón, located on the Campus for Culture, Arts and Sports.

• Veracruzana University
• Benemérita Escuela Normal Veracruzana Enrique C. Rébsamen
• Escuela Normal Superior Veracruzana Dr. Manuel Suárez Trujillo
• Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Xalapa
• The College of Veracruz
• Universidad Popular Autónoma de Veracruz (formerly Instituto Veracruzano de Educación para Adultos)

Private universities

• Anáhuac Xalapa University (UAX)
• University of Xalapa (UX)
• Centro de Atención, Estudios e Investigación en Ortodoncia.
• Centro de Estudios Superiores de Veracruz (CESUVER)
• Centro de Estudios Superiores Hispanos Anglo Francés de Xalapa.
• Centro Educativo SigloXXI The Animas (CES21)

Veracruz University

It was founded on September 11, 1944 and has careers in the school and open system. Currently the rector is Sara Ladrón de Guevara González.

Preparatory College of Xalapa

Xalapa Preparatory College

Main article: Xalapa Preparatory College

In its beginnings, this College was known as the National College of Xalapa and was located in a wing of the San Francisco Convent building. On April 6, 1843, President Antonio López de Santa Anna, at the direct request of Lic. Antonio María de Rivera, issued a decree in which he offered his support to the foundation of the National College of Nuns of Xalapa.

The Board of Directors of the College was integrated in May 1843 by Colonel José Julián Gutiérrez, political chief of Xalapa, as president; Mr. Ramón Terán, secretary; Bernardo Sayago, treasurer; the priest José Francisco Campomanes, Vicente Camacho and Antonio Martínez, members. Lic. Antonio María de Rivera was appointed Rector of the College.

The Board elaborated a study plan that included the following subjects: Spanish, Latin, French and English (languages), Moral Theology, Jurisprudence, Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy, Political economy and elements of commerce, Sacred history and profane history, Rhetoric and pleasant literature, Elements of mathematics, Elements of geography, Music, Drawing and painting.

The school was inaugurated on September 16, 1843, becoming the second secondary school in the State (the first was the Orizaba Preparatory School). Classes began on October 2 with forty external students.

The school did not receive financial aid from the government of the Republic, nor from the Departmental government -they only offered their moral support-, even though its sponsors had been President Santa Anna and Governor Quijano. In this situation, the rector Antonio María de Rivera not only did not receive a salary, but often used his money to cover school expenses.

During the US invasion, Juan Soto, governor of Veracruz, requested the building of the Franciscan convent to install a military hospital. Later, the invaders, upon arriving in Xalapa, took possession of the convent and used it as a barracks. Then Antonio María de Rivera moved the College to a rented house and later to number 64 Belén street (today Lucio).

Around 1850, due to the efforts of Antonio María de Rivera himself, the government ceded an old house to the College located at 82 Calle de la Amargura, on the corner with Nacional (now Revolución, on the corner with Juárez). It functioned there for a few years until in 1861 when Governor Ignacio de la Llave, during the French invasion, ordered the eviction of the premises that the College occupied in order to establish a military hospital. After the war, the College returned to the same building.

Antonio María de Rivera continued as rector until 1868 when, by order of Governor Francisco Hernández y Hernández, he was replaced by Joaquín G. Aguilar, a professor at the same Preparatory College. Today the Preparatory College houses the "Librado Basilio" Historical Library, which currently contains 17,631 documentary resources.

Places of interest

Paseo de la Hermandad

Metropolitan Cathedral of Xalapa, Enríquez.

Historic Center

Although the oldest area of the city is not officially recognized as a Historic Center by the INAH, the blocks around the Cathedral have been declared a Monument Zone. Among which stand out:

Monument Araucaria of Mexican artist Sebastian.

• Metropolitan Cathedral of Xalapa

It presents a neo-Gothic façade attached to the original Baroque façade. The west tower was never completed due to problems in its foundation. In the area between this cathedral, the former convent of San Francisco, (today the City Hall building) and Juárez Park, there are tunnels that were not caused precisely by the water course, but rather, according to historians, they were dug based on tenacity, time and effort by the monks and religious of the convent to establish communication with the Cathedral without being seen. It is said that the existence of a tunnel was possible from this cathedral and to the Church of the Hearts, both with an unfinished tower each, which is thought to be a sign for the ancient friars at the time of the conquest.

• Government Palace

Situated in the old Town Hall, this building with a Neoclassical façade has been remodeled on several occasions and has housed, in addition to the headquarters of the Executive (central section), the State Legislature (east section) and the Municipal Palace (west section).).

• Municipal Palace

Located to the north of Parque Juárez, although with a Neoclassical façade, this building was not built until the middle of the XX century when it was decided that the City Council would no longer share the western part of the Government Palace.

• Parque Juárez
  

  Orizaba Avenue.

It was built on the ruins of the Convent of San Francisco, built in the XVI century by Franciscan friars who came to the New Spain to spread Catholicism. The Convent presented serious damage in the middle of the XIX century, for which reason it was demolished by the then Governor Juan de la Luz Enríquez Lara who He ordered the construction of the current garden. The park was inaugurated in September 1892; four months later, four araucarias were installed as a gift from the Chilean ambassador, on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the discovery of America. In this park are the monuments to Don Benito Juárez, Emiliano Zapata, Enrique C. Rébsamen and the Paseo de las Virtudes; in addition to the Ágora de la Ciudad, a cultural space that has cafes, galleries and a movie theater, as well as a viewpoint.

Cave of the Orchid. It is the only cave in the country within the urban spot.

• Plaza Lerdo

The main square or central square of the city is smaller than Parque Juárez; It was dedicated to Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, whose effigy was in the center of it.

Illustrative Xalapeños.

• Calvary Church

Built in the mid-18th century 18th as a temple to commemorate the Passion on Golgotha, its origins date back to the establishment of a hermitage in 1564. The building was rebuilt in 1805 and again in 1826, in the Baroque style, with a one-body doorway and finish. Rounded arch access, flanked by paired columns with fluted shafts, Tuscan capital and plinths between columns. Slightly moved cornice, crowned with a coral window with a mixtilinear arch, flanked by columns and in the upper part a scallop and pedestal simulating a niche, decorated with scrolls and gargoyles at the ends. The interior consists of two wooden altarpieces, one dedicated to San Francisco de Asís and the other dedicated to San Juan Nepomuceno, covered in old-color gold foil, dating back more than four hundred years, belonging to the now-defunct convent of San Francisco de Asís. It is one of the few parishes that still have sacred art, such as the figures of the saints belonging to the altarpieces that are made of fine wood and the same paintings that the altarpieces have.

• Xallitic Bridge and Neighborhood
• Diamond alley
• Callejón de Jesús
• Coal dish (the Tree)
• Street of the skull

Parks and gardens

Macuiltepetl Ecological Park

On November 28, 1978, it was declared a Green Area Reserved for Recreation and Ecological Education by Governor Rafael Hernández Ochoa.

Cerro Macuiltépec, can be seen from various points of the City, upon reaching the top there is a viewpoint to appreciate in detail a large part of the City with its altitude of 1,586 m a.s.l. no. m..

In the park is the Veracruz Community Fauna Museum, which has eight rooms: reception and information, Veracruz habitats, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, conservation and sustainable use, and natural history of the cloud forest of the Macuiltépetl.

Parks and places of interest

Panoramic view of Xalapa from Parque Juárez.

Parque Los Tecajetes.

• Parque Juárez
• Parque Los Berros
• Revolution Park
• Tejar Garnica Park
• Parque María Enriqueta
• Cerro del Macuiltépetl Ecological Park
• Rotonda to the Ilustre Xalapeños

Parque de la Señoría.

• Parque de la Señoría
• Ecological Park Los Tecajetes
• Ecological Park The Hague
• Parque Natura
• Bicentennial Park
• Paseo de Los Lagos
• Centennial Park
• Parque Hundido de Maestros Veracruzanos
• Distributor Araucaria
• Cave of the Orchid
• Xalapeño Stadium, Heriberto Jara Corona

A current Ilustre Xalapeño is tenor Javier Camarena.

Gardens

• Botanical Garden
• Jardines de la Universidad Veracruzana
• Garden of Sculptures
• Jardines de la Hacienda
• Jardines del Museo de Antropología

University facilities

• Jardines de la Universidad Veracruzana
• USBI
• UV

Museums

Crisanto Grajales, Xalapeño Ilustre.

Xalapa Museum of Anthropology

Created during the government of Miguel Alemán Valdés, it is considered the second most valuable in Mexico, preceded only by the National Museum of Anthropology in Chapultepec. It has collections from the cultures: Olmec, Central and Huasteca. One of the biggest attractions is the Colossal Heads.

Interactive Museum of Xalapa (MIX)

Opened in 1992 and formerly known as the Xalapa Museum of Science and Technology, it is the only one of its kind in the state of Veracruz. It has 7 themed rooms, an IMAX 3D projection room and since 1999 a planetarium.

Featured Characters

Sports

The city has the team that has won the most times in the National Professional Basketball League of Mexico: Los Halcones UV Xalapa, whose headquarters are the USBI Gymnasium.

It also has the team of the Veracruz Winter League Chileros de Xalapa whose headquarters are the Parque Deportivo Colón.

American football has a history in this city, since the first game of this sport in the country was played here.^{[citation required]} Xalapa has the team Halcones UV (American football) that is currently participating in the southern zone of the ONEFA major league.

In soccer they have Chileros XL F.C. of the Third Division of Mexico.

Xalapeño Stadium (Heriberto Jara Corona Stadium)

The Stadium Jalapeño (today Estadio Heriberto Jara Corona- Estadio Xalapeño) was inaugurated with athletic games on Friday, May 5, 1922. President Álvaro Obregón and Governor Adalberto Tejeda were unable to attend; who did attend was Dr. Francisco García Luna, municipal president.

Xalapeño Stadium.

As part of the week's festivities, the Jalapa Chamber of Commerce hired the famous air circusman Frank Hawks who landed at the stadium on May 7, 1922.

It was the first public stadium in Mexico and the second in Latin America, after the private one used by Club Atlético River Plate of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Under the direction of engineer Modesto C. Rolland (Baja California Sur, 1881), the monumental stadium was built in Xalapa and inaugurated on September 20, 1925. This work was very important in its time, because the construction from scratch until the inauguration took approximately 75 days, record time for the magnitude of such work.

Gastronomy

Among the typical foods of Xalapa are:^{[citation required]}

• Filled xalapines.
• Chileatole chicken (pollo, chileancho, epazote and elote).
• Mushrooms (Hongos de encino, epazote and garlic).
• Tamal with izote flower (Flor of izote, chili and mass).
• Red peppers (pyping seeds, epazote, chileancho and dried chili).
• Chileatole green with pork or chicken (Carne, acuyo, epazote and various vegetables).
• Sweets covered

The most representative dishes of the city are the following:

• Chiles jalapeños filled
• Chiles chipotles filled
• Chileatole of izote flowers
• Adobo with izote flower
• Red rice
• Pambazos
• White heat
• Chileatole
• Picadas
• People's Shields
• Pumpkin flower empanadas

Note: Flor de izote is known elsewhere as yuca or palm flower; the gasparitos as a colorín flower, zompantles or machetitos. The jalapeño pambazos are padded, are not fried and are filled with chicken, sardines or sausage; They are seasoned with avocado, pickled chipotle and tomato.

In Xalapa the most common snacks are:

• Garnachas: Thin tortillas, fries and dried chili sauce or dried chipotle, with beef or chicken.
• Tapaditas or Gorditas: Thickest tortilla filled with beans, fried, crowned with chicken, lettuce, cream, sauce, avocado and cheese
• Picaditas: Thin tortilla, beans or sauce, fried, crowned with beef or chicken, lettuce, cream, avocado and cheese, in other states are known as sopes.
• Empanadas: Known in other states as quesadillas, the difference is the size (they are usually small) and the empanada is always made from raw mass, fried and sealed, filled with chicken meat or res, sometimes bathed with salsa, cream, lettuce and cheese.
• Toastadas: Crunchy tortilla bathed in beans, crowned chicken or beef, with lettuce, cream, cheese, salsa and avocado.

Airport

The city has the El Lencero National Airport, which serves the city and nearby places.

Twinned cities

The city of Xalapa-Enríquez is twinned with the following cities around the world: