Tonatico

Tonatico Municipality is one of the municipalities of the State of Mexico, in Mexico located 153 kilometers from Mexico City, 105 from Cuernavaca, 84 from Toluca, 68 from Taxco and 5 from Ixtapan de la Sal. Tonatico, of Náhuatl origin, is from the Náhuatl word tonatihco, place of the sun.

Municipal seat

In the area around the modern town have been found prehistoric animal remains and cave paintings. According to legend, Axayacatl conquered the place, then known as Tenati-Tlan, "behind the walls", which had existed a few thousand years, and founded Tonatiuh-Co, which had the same borders than the current town. However, no records of this exist. The region had been principally populated by the Matlatzincas, but at the time of the Spanish Conquest, the area belonged to Tlatoani Axayacatzin of Cuahnahuac(present-day Cuernavaca). In 1521 Hernán Cortés sent Andrés de Castro to keep the local peoples from supporting Cuauhtémoc and subdue the area. Don Gaspar Alonso, a conquistador, forsaked his heritage and sided with the natives of Tonatico, taking on the name of Tlachcolcatcal or Tlacatecutli. He most likely died in the town after Spanish dominatino. In 1525, the Spanish founded the modern town, modifying the indigenous name to Tonaltinco or Tonaltiunco. A few years later Franciscan friars come to evangelize the area. At the same time a statue of the Virgin Mary arrived, now-called the Our Lady of Tonatico who is credited with miracles related to problems Tonatico had with nearby Ixtapan de la Sal. However, the town eventually came under the control of Ixtapan de la Sal in 1553.