San Salvador Huixcolotla | |
---|---|
Municipality
[1] and town | |
Coordinates: 18°54′53″N 97°46′25″W / 18.91472°N 97.77361°W [2] | |
Country | Mexico |
State | Puebla |
Government | |
• Presidente | C. Silvano Teodoro Mauricio (2018-2021) [3] ( ) |
Area | |
• Total | 23.909 km2 (9.231 sq mi) |
Elevation | 2,040 m (6,690 ft) |
Population (2010)
[5] | |
• Total | 12,148 |
Time zone | UTC-6 ( Central Standard Time) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC-5 ( Central Daylight Time) |
Website |
www |
San Salvador Huixcolotla is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla in southeastern Mexico that may be best known as the birthplace of papel picado. [6] [7] San Salvador is of Spanish origin and translates to "Holy Savior" and Huixcolotla is Nahuatl for "place of the curved spines". [8]
The original inhabitants were Popoloca speakers, under the Aztec Triple Alliance. [8] Friar Juan de Rivas founded a small congregation in 1539 as part of the Spanish colonization and in 1750, construction began on Iglesia del Divino Salvador (Church of the Divine Savior). [8] In 1779 it became a town, and on 15 April 1930, it was declared a municipality under the governorship of Leonides Andrew Almazán. [8] [9]
The total area of San Salvador Huixcolotla is 23.909 square kilometres (9.231 sq mi), of which 79% is devoted to agriculture and the remaining is 21% developed. [4] [2]: 2 The four barrios are El Calvario, San Antonio, San Martín, and La Candelaria, and the three colonias are San Isidro, Dolores, and Benito Juárez. [4] It is surrounded to the north by the municipalities of Los Reyes de Juárez and Acatzingo; to the east by Acatzingo and Tecamachalco; to the south by Tecamachalco, Tochtepec, and Cuapiaxtla de Madero; and to the west by Cuapiaxtla de Madero and Los Reyes de Juárez. [2]
The typical range of temperatures is 12–18 °C (54–64 °F). [2]: 2 Typical annual rainfall is 1,100–1,300 millimetres (43–51 in). [2]: 2
78.12% of the population lives in poverty. [4]: 15 As of 2015, electricity and sanitary systems are universal, but only 50.10% of households have piped water inside their homes. [4]: 17 90.25% of the population between age 6 and 14 can read and write. [4]: 18
Papel Picado ("perforated paper," "pecked paper") is a decorative Mexican folk art made by cutting elaborate designs into sheets of tissue paper that were popularized in San Salvador Huixcolotla. It is thought to have originated from the pre-Hispanic practice of making religious offerings with amate bark paper. [10] Among the first makers were Juan Hernandez, Cristóbal Flores, Santiago Vivanco R., and Lauro Pérez Macías. [9] By the late 1920s, it had spread outside Puebla to Tlaxcala and is now used around the world in observations of Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead). [11] [7] In addition to Día de Muertos, known locally as Todos Santos, papel picado is also commonly made to celebrate Semana Santa (the Holy Week of Easter), Mexican independence, and Christmas. [12] [10]
In 1998 the governor of Puebla declared the town, in which 35% of the residents participate in this craft, a cultural heritage of the state. [10] [13] Papel Picado from Huixcolotla is exported around the world via the Museo Nacional de Arte. [12]
An annual fair celebrates the town's patron of San Salvador and runs from 6–14 August. [9] A typical dish is the eponymous mole poblana of the region. [9]