Tenancingo, State of Mexico

Tenancingo
Town & Municipality
Tenancingo de Degollado
Hill of the Three Marias
Tenancingo
Coordinates: 18°57′39″N 99°35′26″W / 18.96083°N 99.59056°W / 18.96083; -99.59056Coordinates: 18°57′39″N 99°35′26″W / 18.96083°N 99.59056°W / 18.96083; -99.59056
Country	Mexico
State	State of Mexico
Founded	1551
Municipal Status	1825
Government
• Municipal President	Antonio Sánchez Castaneda (2013-2015)
Elevation (of seat)	2,020 m (6,630 ft)
Population (2010) Municipality
• Municipality	90,946
• Seat	14,174
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
Postal code (of seat)	52400
Website	(Spanish) http:// www.tenancingo.gob.mx/

Tenancingo de Degollado is a large municipality, and also the name of a town and the municipal seat of the municipality, in the State of Mexico, Mexico. Both are commonly known as Tenancingo. The municipality is located in the south of the state, in the Tenancingo Valley, just outside the Toluca Valley. Tenancingo de Degollado is often confused with Tenancingo, Tlaxcala, which is a town in a different state.

It is a commercial area known for its industrious people who produce beautiful rebozos (a kind of shawl) which have been woven here since the colonial period on both backstrap and pedal looms. Several artisans also produce baskets and fine fruit liquors. Tenancingo is the home to more than 200 carpentry workshops that fashion furniture. There are many green houses in the region that produce cut flowers. In fact the flower industry is Tenancingo's largest source of income. It is the home of the Santo Desierto del Carmen, the name of both a monastery and a national park.

The seat of the municipality is the town of Tenancingo, surrounded by mountains and forest. The main elevation overlooking the town is the Cerro de las Tres Marías, topped by a giant white statue of Christ the King (Cristo Rey), built in 1985, designed by Hector Morret and visible from just about anywhere in the valley below. The monument is reachable by either climbing a staircase with 1,030 steps or by paved road. There is a lookout allowing for a 360-degree panoramic view.

Since it is relatively isolated, Tenancingo has maintained much of its country feel and old traditions despite extensive economic growth and tourism. It has a colonial era layout, centered on a main plazas filled with young poplars, which replaced aged junipers that grew here before. Market (tianguis) days are still Thursdays and Sundays, which almost five square city blocks with stalls. The plaza contains a traditional kiosk as well as a notable marble statue of Miguel Hidalgo, which was sculpted here but was in the Jardín de los Martires in Toluca for many years before its return. It is said to be the oldest sculpture of its kind in the State of Mexico. The area is known for its rebozos, chairs painted with floral designs and a local sausage/cold cut called “Obispo,” which attract tourists, most of whom come to the area by buses that connect it with Toluca and Mexico City .