Xalapa - History

History

The Totonacas were the first people to establish themselves around the Macuiltepetl – a five-peaked hill, which today is a park. During the 14th century, four cultures settled in the territory today known as Xalapa. Each of them built a small village: Xalitic (in the sand) was founded by the Totonacas; Techacapan (river of waste) was founded by the Chichimecas; in the northeast Tecuanapan (river of the beasts) was founded by the Toltecas and Tlalnecapan was founded by the Teochichimecas.

Eventually around 1313, the four villages grew and joined forming one big village which was given the name Xallapan.Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, fifth Aztec Emperor, invaded the territory during the second half of the 15th century; therefore all the land became part of the Aztec Empire until the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores.

In 1519 Hernán Cortés passed through Xalapa enroute to Tenochtitlan. 1555 saw the final construction of the Franciscan convent which is the second most important event in that time in Nueva España.

When the Spanish arrived, Xalapa was barely populated. It rose after the conquest but the opening of the Mexico-Orizaba-Veracruz route reduced the importance of Xalapa as a transport hub, resulting in the population stagnating during the 17th century. However, from 1720 Xalapa became increasingly important, due to trade with numerous retailers of the New Spain arriving to sell products and to buy products arriving from the peninsula. At this time numerous resident Spanish families in the near towns settled in Xalapa, so that by 1760 the population had increased to over 1,000 inhabitants, mestizo and Spanish. The growth of Xalapa in population, culture, commerce and importance, increased dramatically in the 18th century, with the result that, in response to a request from local inhabitants Carlos IV of Spain elevated the status of Xalapa to a town on 18 December 1791.

In 1772, the construction of Xalapa Cathedral began, and on 18 May 1784, José María Alfaro lifted the first air balloon in the Americas, in Xalapa. Due to the abundance of flowers growing in the region, Alexander von Humboldt, who visited the town on 10 February 1804, christened the town as the "City of the Flowers".

Since the beginning of the 19th century, Xalapa was the scene of some important historical events, a town which relished in the movement of Mexican independence from the Spanish. Ideas greatly flowed in the town, and Xalapa was represented by many who put forward these ideas to those in Mexico City in government meetings. On 20 May 1821, shortly before completing Mexican Independence on 27 September of the same year, Xalapa was attacked by the forces of Don Antonio López de Santa Anna, who, along with Don Joaquin Log, they forced Spanish captain Juan Horbregoso to submit the town. Nevertheless independence was completed just months later in more amicable circumstances, although the emperor Agustín de Iturbide was not warmly received in Xalapa due to past differences.

On 9 May 1824, by decree of the President of the Republic Don Guadalupe Victoria, the First Legislature of the State of Veracruz was established in Xalapa. That same year, Xalapa was declared state capital, In the 1820s Xalapa and the surrounding area was subject to a revolt when Vicente Guerrero replaced General Anastasio Bustamante. Veracruz was attacked by Isidro Barradas, who was attempting to reconquer parts of Mexico, and over 3,000 were deployed to defend the cities of Veracruz, Cordova and Orizaba for military purposes. Anastacio Bustamante, betraying the confidence given to him, revolted against the legitimate government with a new plan of Xalapa, signed on 4 December 1829. Nevertheless, the revolt was subdued.

On 29 November 1830 by decree, Xalapa was elevated to the class of city. On 1843, Don Antonio María de Rivera founded the Normal School of Xalapa, which is today a preparatory school.

During the American invasion, in 1847 General Don Antonio López de Santa Anna attempted to defeat the opposing forces at a site near Xalapa in the Battle of Cerro Gordo with an army of more than 12,000 soldiers. Mexican troops suffered many casualties, killing around 1,000 and seriously injuring 3,000 and on 18 April 1847, a bloody defeat resulted in the invaders occupying the city the following day.

Patriotism against the invaders prevailed, and Xalapeños such as Ambrosio Alcalde and Antonio García fought bravely in the defense of the city of Veracruz, but were taken prisoner by the enemy. Released, after promising not to again take arms against the North American invaders, they rejoined the fight against them only to be recaptured this time near Teocelo. They were subsequently taken to Xalapa to be sentenced to death and executed on 24 November 1847. Today these two men are remembered as martyrs for preferring to die than see the enemy take their country. A monument, taking the form of an obelisk marks the event between San Jose Church and Alcalde Market, named after Ambrosio Alcalde. The North Americans were eventually driven out. Xalapa was once again attacked in November 1862 during the French invasion, when they temporarily took control of the state capital.

On 27 November 1867 the corpse of the emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, who had been executed in Querétaro, arrived at Xalapa, being deposited firstly in the neighborhood of San Jose and attended to by the priest José María y Daza, before being transferred to Veracruz the following day and then shipped back to Austria to be buried. In 1885 General Juan de la Luz Enríquez, increased the power of Xalapa by moving some legislative authority from Orizaba to Xalapa, in accordance with the decree issued in June 1884 by the provisional Governor Jose Manuel Jauregui. General Enríquez, in coordination with the Swiss teacher Enrique C. Rébsamen, then founded the Normal School in Xalapa, the first school of this type in the entire country in 1886.

Enríquez died in 1892, but the construction of the building of the Preparatory School and the later inauguration of other schools during the 1890s gave cultural reputation to Xalapa, and led to it becoming known as the “Athens of Veracruz”.

During the regime of Enríquez, the building of the old convent of San Francisco was demolished and replaced with the Parque Juárez. In June 1890 the first locomotive for the Xalapa-Coatepec-Teocelo railroad arrived in the city. The interoceanic railroad was completed in Veracruz in 1901. The public lighting system was introduced in 1904 and in 1906 a clock was installed in the centre of the city on Enríquez Street on premises which presently houses the agency of the National Lottery.

On 18 May 1911, Francisco I. Madero visited Xalapa and on 21 June of the same year a minor conflict occurred between federal forces and revolutionaries.

On 3 January 1920, a strong earthquake affected the city, destroying several buildings. Years later in December 1923, Xalapa fell into the power of the huertístas, commanded by Guadalupe Sánchez.

In 1940 the water building and agricultural house were constructed, which today is occupied by the Agrarian League of Communities and Union Farmers of the State. On 11 September 1944 the Universidad de Veracruzana was established, and Dr. Manuel Suárez became the first director. On 4 September 1978 by means of decree number 325, the Local Legislature approved that the official name of the city Xalapa Enríquez should have to be written with a “X” rather than a "J".

Xalapa is a thriving center for commerce and many multinational companies have branches in the city. These include Wal-Mart, Superama, Sam's Club, The Home Depot, Liverpool, Sears, Costco, Sanborns, Comercial Mexicana, C&A, Fabricas de Francia, Coppel, Garcia, Milano, Burger King, McDonald's, Domino's pizza, Pizza Hut, Subway, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Office Depot, Office Max, Oxxo, Block Buster, Hugo Boss, Pull and Bear, and Carl's Jr., Prada, Tous, etc.

Xalapa also has a number of cinemas, some of them of substantial size like the Cinepolis Museum (10 screens), Cinepolis the Americas (16 screens), and other cinemas such as Cinepolis Crystal. There are several malls in Xalapa: Plaza Crystal, Plaza Museo, Plaza Animas (L.A. Fashion), Plaza Américas, Plaza los Arcos (to open in 2012).

Many people in Xalapa are employed by the government, since it is the state capital. Xalapa is also the head one of the five regional sections of the Tribunal Electoral (a level below the Supreme Court). This area encompasses 7 states: Campeche, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz and Yucatán. The other regional seats are Mexico City, Toluca, Monterrey and Guadalajara.