Acuitzio del Canje, Michoacán

Acuitzio del Canje
Municipal seat
Acuitzio del Canje

Location of Acuitzio

Coordinates: 19°30′N 101°20′W / 19.500°N 101.333°W / 19.500; -101.333Coordinates: 19°30′N 101°20′W / 19.500°N 101.333°W / 19.500; -101.333
Country  Mexico
State Michoacán
Municipality Acuitzio
Elevation 2,080 m (6,820 ft)
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
  Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
Website www.municipiosmich.gob.mx/acuitzio

Acuitzio del Canje is a town in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Acuitzio.

The area was originally settled in pre-Hispanic times. By 1620, it was a community of 20 families, with a hospital. In the early years of Mexican independence, an ayuntamiento was established there.

Name

"Acuitzio" is a word of Purépecha origin that means "place of snakes". The epithet "del Canje" (literally: "of the exchange") refers to an exchange of prisoners of war that took place in the town on 5 December 1865, during the French Intervention. On 16 December 1901, the State Congress enacted legislation for Acuitzio's name to be changed to Acuitzio del Canje.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, July 06, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.