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Ixmiquilpan

Ixmiquilpan
Ntsʼu̱tkʼani
Town & Municipality
Main plaza of Ixmiquilpan
Main plaza of Ixmiquilpan
Coat of arms of Ixmiquilpan
Coat of arms
Ixmiquilpan is located in Mexico
Ixmiquilpan
Ixmiquilpan
Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 20°28′55″N 99°13′05″W / 20.48194°N 99.21806°W / 20.48194; -99.21806
Country  Mexico
State Hidalgo
Founded 1550
Government
 • Municipal President José Manuel Zuñiga Guerrrero (2006-2009)
Area
 • Municipality 565.3 km2 (218.3 sq mi)
Elevation (of seat) 1,700 m (5,600 ft)
Population (2005) Municipality
 • Municipality 73,903
 • Seat 32,679
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
Postal code (of seat) 42300
Website (Spanish) site

Ixmiquilpan (Otomi: Ntsʼu̱tkʼani) is a city and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. It is located on the Mexico City/Nuevo Laredo Highway at km 170 in the central west part of the state of Hidalgo. The town of Ixmiquilpan is noted for its parish church, Church of San Miguel Arcangel, which contains a large series of murals done in the 16th century by native artists depicting Eagle and Jaguar warriors in battle, along with other pre-Hispanic imagery.

The first ethnic group to settle in the Mezquital Valley in Hidalgo state were a group of Otomies, who called themselves Hñahñus. They named this area Ntsʼu̱tkʼani, which means place of verdolagas or pigweed. They were well established here by the time the Toltecs arrived to establish the city of Tollan. These Otomies would be subjugated by the Toltecs then later by the Aztec Empire. Both these peoples spoke Nahuatl and renamed the area Itzmiquilpan (later spelled Ixmiquilpan), which means "place where the verdolagas cut like flint knives." Under the Aztecs, these Otomies were not just a tributary people but also provided soldiers as allies in the Aztecs’ many wars. This gave them a certain amount of autonomy within the Aztec Empire. This notion of autonomy would continue into the Colonial period when communities such as Orizabita and San Juanico called themselves "republics."

After the Conquest, the first Spanish arrived here headed by Pedro Rodríguez de Escobar, who were sent by Pedro de Alvarado as scouts. The Augustinian monks who accompanied these soldiers founded the town of Ixmiquilpan, with the founding of the church and monastery of San Miguel Arcangel in 1550. The town grew over time, and by the early 17th century, it was decided to build the first bridge over the Tula River, to connect Ixmiquilpan with the newer settlement of Barrio de la Otra Banda, today Barrio de Progreso. The project was undertaken by Captain Miguel Cuevas y Dávales and inaugurated in 1655.


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