The History of Cuernavaca 

The Cuernavaca area has a tremendous history.  The oldest archeological site, Chalcatzingo, Is located in an arid open area in the Southern part of the state and flourished centuries before Christ.  Parts of the ruins may have been carved as long ago as 1000 BC.  Many centuries later the civilization of Xochicalco flourished in another part of the state at the crossroads of several cultures.  Xochicalco means stonehouse flower, and the civilization was at its height from 750 to 900 AD.  

Xochicalco was an administrative religious and trade center that contained ten different types of trades and was built on five levels.  It had huge fortifications and retention walls that were made of stucco painted with white clay over a limestone base.  There was a large moat surrounding the city, with a bridge wide enough for three people abreast.  

The original inhabitants of the area around Cuernavaca were the Tlahuicas, a sub group of the Nahuatl culture. They first settled the region in the 10th or 11th century and were related to the Aztecs who arrived on the other side of the mountains in the valley of Mexico at a later date. It was this early culture that built the pyramids at Teopanzalco in downtown Cuernavaca.

The first known conquest of the Tlahuicas was made by the second king of Tenochtitlan, Huitzilihuit who ended up by marrying the daughter of the local king.

From this union was born Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, the great Moctezuma. While Moctezuma was growing up the new king Itzcoatl, conquered Cuauhnahuac (Cuernavaca). When Moctezuma Ilhuicamina became Emperor he remembered his boyhood haunts and had beautiful gardens and villas built on the Cuernavaca side of the mountains at Oaxtepec where the natural springs made both a healthy and warm retreat during the winter months.

The Aztec domination of the entire region lasted until the advent of the Spaniard lead by Hernan Cortez conquered and made allies of the Tlaxcalan tribes. These new allies showed him the route to Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) that led around the heavily defended direct route. It went by the more easily passable southern route. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, the historian who traveled as a soldier with Cortes' army, describes the trail and the ultimate battle on the southern side of the ring of mountains surrounding Cuernavaca.

The army moved through the valley taking Yautepec then Topoztlan and finally arriving at a ravine used as a line of defense by the inhabitants of Cuernavaca. The ravine was believed to be uncrossable and so the line was lightly patrolled. The Indian allies of Cortes discovered a spot along the ravine where two huge trees grew out from either side of the ravine and formed a rough natural bridge. The magnificent Diego Rivera Mural in the Cortes Palace shows the Indians and some Spaniards working their way across the intertwined branches. Three heavily armored Spaniards fell to their deaths from here but the balance of the force crossed unopposed and entered the city while others repaired one of the felled bridges for the horses to cross upon. The defending troops scattered at the sight of the horses (supposedly the horse and man were considered to be one being) and the city was burned and pillaged. When the chiefs came down from the hills and prostrated themselves before Cortes the carnage stopped.

After the conquest of Mexico City Cortes returned to Cuernavaca to build his palace. In 1529 Cortes was granted by the Spanish crown, as an award for his conquests , a huge tract of land which included all of the present state of Morelos, all the Indians then living on the land, the title of Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca and power of life and death over all the souls on his domains

There were beautiful Indian temples erected here when Cortez came to the city.  He made the Indians tear them down and used the blocks to build his palace and the cathedral just up the street from his house.  The cathedral was started in the year 1529.  Saint Jeronimo's Church, in another part of Cuernavaca,  has a sign that says it was built in the 16th Century by the Franciscan Friars. The hacienda San Gabriel Las Palamas was originally a Franciscan convent, built in 1529 by orders of Hernan Cortes.  Later it became a sugar mill in the 1700's and Zapata's headquarters in the early 1900's.  Today its a 12 suite luxury hotel and restaurant. (phone number is 348-0636).  

Other cities in this area like Teopztlan have a recorded history dating back to 450 AD.   Not quite as ancient as Rome But definitely better then any other country in North America. 

The Spaniards captured the town in 1521 and Cortes himself intended to retire here, building a palace which is now a regional museum. The town was the scene of much bloodshed in the 1910's revolution, when local leader, Emiliano Zapata, and his troops, killed many of the Spanish landowners.

Cuernavaca and the State of Morelos thrived under the Spanish yoke for 289 years. That is, the Spaniards thrived on the richness of the hacienda produce which were sold abroad. The natives survived and a great deal of intermixing took place, which gave birth to a new race, the Mexicans. Part Spanish and part Indian, they were called Mestizos or mixed. The Mextizos grew in number and economic importance but were excluded from all government posts as were the Creoles, or Spaniards born in Mexico. All Appointments were reserved for Spaniards born in Spain. This situation developed slowly over the centuries but finally the native born population arose to drive out the Spaniards and take over their own lands.

The War of Independence started in 1810 with the Cry of Dolores. A Creole priest named Father Miguel Hidalgo rang his church bells in the town of Dolores and shouted, " Long live the liberty of all the Americas."

The populace rose up and, after a protracted war the Spaniards were forced to withdraw in 1821.

With the French intervention of 1864-1867 Cuernavaca became the favorite watering place of the Imperial court of Carlotta and Maximilian Von Hapsburg. They traveled the cobbled trail carriage from the Capital in the mountains above to this sun kissed plain where they could enjoy court life and avoid the rigors of winter. The Empire was overthrown in 1867 and Benito Juarez, the legitimate president was reinstalled in office.

Up to this time the area of the present State of Morelos pertained at various times to the States of Guerrero, Puebla and Mexico but in 1869 President Juarez published a decree forming the sovereign State of Morelos, named after the hero of the Was of Independence. It included Cuernavaca as its capital and the districts of Yautepec, Jonacatepec, and Tetecala.

Morelos had two famous people in the 1800's.

 José María Morelos y Pavón (1765-1815), was a Mexican priest, who led the independence movement after the execution of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.  He was a parish priest until he joined Hidalgo's rebellion in 1810. By late 1811 he was generally recognized as the leader of the rebellion. In 1813 he sponsored the Congress of Chilpancingo, which issued a declaration of independence. He was captured by royalist forces in 1815 and executed.  

Emiliano Zapata was probably the most famous person in Morelos history.    He and his band of revolutionaries really helped to decide the way of life of the farmers in this area and most of Mexico.  There is a book called "Zapata and the Mexican Revolution, written by John Womack in 1969. Its probably out of print but you might be able to find it in your area library.  It covers the period of time of Zapata's revolutions.  (it was more then one revolution) It is a very interesting history of this area of Mexico and Mexico in general during the period of 1890- 1920.   The image above was taken by me of the statue at the main traffic circle as you enter Cuernavaca from Mexico City. 

In the late 1890's 17 families owned 36 hacienda's that owned 25% of its total surface area, most of its cultivable land and almost all its good land. They were heavily into Sugar Cane.   And were destroying the small villages and forcing the Indians to live on the Hacienda in the Mexican Version of the Company store.  Each Hacienda had its own stores, living area, police, church, etc.  

The largest of these was 126,000 acres.  Most were in the 50,000 acre area.  And, the worse part is that they were not happy with having this much land they wanted more and kept stealing it from the villages near them.  That's what started the Zapata Revolution. 

The biggest employer in Cuernavaca would be the Nissan factory.  Modern History would be the language schools. Ivan Illych founded CIDOC in 1961, and Cuernavaca became the center of Spanish language study in Mexico.  There are now more then 50 language schools which have evolved over the years. The aim of CIDOC was to provide an immersion language experience for missionaries headed for Latin American countries, and was so successful that it soon attracted a secular student body.

The schools that followed have continued to offer classes modeled after Illych's example with varying digress of authenticity. They employed an eclectic collection of methods that include stimulation-response drills, dialog memorization, grammar exercises, and cognitive approaches such as "the Silent Way" and attracting a wide spectrum of clientele including university and high school students as well as professionals, tourists, and people thinking about retiring in Mexico. Many of the schools offer special courses to meet the needs of those professional sectors which most obviously require Spanish (including medical personnel, priests, lawyers, teachers, and more recently, business people).

Cuernavaca is the resort of choice for the citizens of Mexico city.  Located only an hours drive from the city Cuernavaca being on the other side of the mountains and much lower, has clear blue skies, and warm weather.  So every weekend the population of Cuernavaca doubles as thousands of Chilango's take a weekend in the Sun.