Tenancingo, State of Mexico

The seat of the municipality is the town of Tenancingo, surrounded by mountains and forest.[1] The main elevation overlooking the town is the Cerro de las Tres Marías, topped by a giant white statue of Christ the King (Cristo Rey), built in 1985, designed by Hector Morret and visible from just about anywhere in the valley below.[2][3] The monument is reachable by either climbing a staircase with 1,030 steps or by paved road. There is a lookout allowing for a 360-degree panoramic view.[1][4]

Since it is relatively isolated, Tenancingo has maintained much of its country feel and old traditions despite extensive economic growth and tourism.[1][5] It has a colonial era layout, centered on a main plazas filled with young poplars, which replaced aged junipers that grew here before. Market (tianguis) days are still Thursdays and Sundays, which almost five square city blocks with stalls.[5][6] The plaza contains a traditional kiosk as well as a notable marble statue of Miguel Hidalgo, which was sculpted here but was in the Jardín de los Martires in Toluca for many years before its return. It is said to be the oldest sculpture of its kind in the State of Mexico.[5] The area is known for its rebozos, chairs painted with floral designs and a local sausage/cold cut called “Obispo,” which attract tourists, most of whom come to the area by buses that connect it with Toluca and Mexico City .[5][6][7]

View of the Cristo Rey from Casanova Street

Facing this plaza is the municipal hall, built when the municipality was formed and the San Francisco Asis Parish. This church was built in the 17th century of sandstone. Its interior has a Baroque tabernacle dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary and a second chamber dedicatd to the Virgin Mary.[5][7]

Calvario Temple

Another important church is the Calvario Temple, constructed century in Neoclassical style and finished in 1813. It is also known as the Our Lady of Sorrows Sanctuary and the Basilica of San Clemente, and was recently named a cathedral for the Tenancingo diocese. The interior, especially the cupola contains works by local painter Petronilo Monroy as well as large canvases with scenes of the Passion of the Christ by José María Monroy Briseño. However the latter are exhibited only during Holy Week.[3][5][7]

The municipal market was inaugurated in 1972 and the Flower Market was built sometime later, dedicated to the municipality's recent dedicated to the growing of cut flowers.[2][6]

The Teotla neighborhood (barrio) is one of the oldest in the town. It contains a small plaza and small church.[5]

Desierto del Carmen monastery

The municipality is in the south of the State of Mexico, 48 km from the state capital of Toluca.[8] The municipality has one city, four neighborhoods (barrios), twenty ranches, fourteen villages, six “agricultural neighborhoods (colonias),” eight “urban neighborhoods (colonias),” ten “semi urban neighborhoods (colonias)” and two communities of a type called “internado,”[9] which together form a territory of 160.18km2.[10] The municipality borders the municipalities of Tenango del Valle, Joquicingo, Zumpahuacán, Malinalco and Villa Guerrero .[8] The local government consists of a municipal president, one syndic, and ten representatives called “regidors.”[11]

Attractions in the municipality (outside the seat) include the Tecomatlán Parish, the chapels located in the communities of San Simonito, Zepayautla, Acatzingo and Teola and the former haciendas of Tenería, Monte de Pozo and Santa Ana.[4]

However, the major cultural landmark for the area is the Desierto del Carmen monastery and National Park, located twelve km south of the town of Tenancingo. It is a heavily forested area which centers on the Carmelite monastery, one of few in Mexico that still hosts monks and religious activities.[12][13]

The monastery was built in the late 18th century and consecrated in 1801 as a new home for the monks of the Desierto de los Leones, when they decided that they needed to be further away from the expanding Mexico City.[12][13] The monastery was abandoned for a time in the early 20th century but the order retook the facility, establishing a school called the Colegio de Filosofía de los Carmelitas Descalzados in 1951 and in 1956, it was designated as a “house of prayer” open to all. It still hosts religious gatherings along with quiet spaces open to the public for prayer and contemplation.[12] The monastery complex has a number of living facilities and storage units as well as former hermitages dedicated to John the Baptist, Saint Joseph and Mary Magdalene. The church contains a life-sized wood crucifix called the Cristo de las Siete Suertes.[13] The surrounding forest has hiking trails and picnic areas as well as three lookout points: Balcon del Diablo, San Elias and Peña Colorada.[5]

Work in progress at the Inocencio Borboa workshop in Tenancingo

Most of the population of the municipality lives in the valley floor, in or near the municipal seat. However, small communities can be found at very high elevations such as San José Chalmita and San Antonio Agua Bendita.[10] The municipality is poor with 60.2% of the population suffering from either moderate (43.1%) or extreme (17.1%) poverty. 15.3 percent live in substandard housing and thirty percent live without one or more services such as running water and electricity. 42.1% percent are considered to have substandard access to nutrition.[14]

Average years of schooling for residents is 8.1 years, below the state average of 9.1. The municipality has 179 educational centers including 69 preschools, 63 primary schools, 33 middle schools, 14 high schools and four vocational schools.[14] There are several campuses with higher studies such as the Escuela Central Agrícola de Tenería (est. 1927), the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México - Centro Universitario UAEM Tenancingo and the Centro Universitario Iberoamericano de Tenancingo. There are no educational facilities specifically targeting an indigenous population.[2][14]

Major local celebrations include Lunes de Carnaval (when residents elect an "Ugly King") and a procession of silence and passion play during Holy Week.[4][6] The Carnival of Tenancingo was established in 1982.[15] Other important dates include Epiphany, the Feria de Jarro on Ash Wednesday and the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (July 16). These are popular dates for weddings and confirmation and feature native folk dance, religious services, fireworks, traveling amusement rides as well as local food specialties.[4][6] There are two main ingredients in local cuisine: chayotes, once the main agricultural crop and so important that residents call themselves “chayotes”,[6] and obispo, a kind of sausage or cold cut. Common dishes include chayotes con pipian, tinga (chicken or pork), carnero en salsa and chilacayotes con venas de chile.[4]

The main economic activities of the municipality are agriculture, commerce and handcrafts.[3] Although a recent phenomenon, its main agricultural crop is cut flowers, grown in greenhouses with many exported.[6] Cultivated species include gladiolas and roses.[10] Other crops include avocados and peaches and there is some honey and other bee products now produced as a consequence of the flower trade.[6][16] Santa Ana Ixtlahuatzingo is particularly noted for the growing of flowers, as is the community of San Miguel Tecomatlán.[5][9]

The main handcrafts produced by the municipality are rustic furniture, fruit liquors, sweaters, baskets and, by far the best known, rebozos.[4][9][17] Furniture making is mostly concentrated in the La Campana neighborhood of the seat. The classic style of the area is lacquered in white or pastel colors, decorated with flowers painted by hand.[13] Much of the fruit liquor production is exported.[16] Most of the basket production is concentrated in the town of Chalchihuapan.[9]

Feria de Rebozo 2014

Rebozos have been made in the municipal area since the colonial period using both indigenous backstrap looms and Spanish pedal looms. This continues to this day with most production today concentrated in the town of Tenancingo and nearby Acatzingo.[9][18] The municipality has about thirty weavers and over 180 “empuntadoras”, those who finger-weave the fringes.[18] Making a rebozo require fifteen steps, from the ikat dying method to the weaving and the creation of the fringes. There are fringe weaves that take up to four months to do. Prices for rebozos generally run between 400 and 4,000 pesos each, depending on the quality of the thread, the tightness and complexity of the weave and the intricateness of the woven fringes.[17]

There are several notable rebozo weavers in Tenancingo. One of these is Evaristo Borboa, who received a National Galardon from the federal government for his work in 2014. His work has been exhibited in Mexico and abroad, in such countries as Japan and Germany.[18] He has worked as a weaver all his life, starting when he was eight years old and is only one of two in Tenancingo who weaves with a backstrap loom (along with Salomon Gonzalez Pedraza) .[3][13][18] He uses commercially made cotton thread and used to use natural dyes but has since switched to synthetics. Most of Evaristo's buyers are foreigners because of the publicity he has received. He has said that he will die with threads in his hand and knows the exact number of threads in each rebozo he makes.[19] Another notable rebozo maker is Luis Rodriguez Martinez, who distributes his ware in various parts of Mexico including Puebla, Oaxaca, Morelos, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Guadalajara and Mexico City.[1]

Weaving is mostly done by men with women knotting the fringe.[13] In Ixpuichapan, there is an association of women dedicated to the weaving of fringes.[13]

Luis Rodriguez Martinez has stated that the craft is in danger of disappearing from Tenancingo.[20] Currently there are 35 weavers from 200 about 70 years ago and thirty of these have been in operation for more than sixty years. The main reason for the loss of artisans is the low prices of rebozos, including imitations from abroad. Weavers have taken to making other items such as neckties and bags using the same material as the rebozos.[20] Children of weavers, including those of Evarito Borboa, are deciding not to follow in their parents’ footsteps.[13][19][20]

To help preserve the tradition, in 2014, the town hosted the first National Rebozo Contest, sponsored by FONART and the state tourism secretary.[21] It attracts over thirty artisans and about 3,500 people each year with pieces available here running between 200 and 15,000 pesos.[22]

The municipality is located in a small valley just southeast of the Toluca Valley.[8] The ruggedness of the area is due to its formation by an eruption of the Nevado de Toluca volcano. It is possible that the valley was a lake, which eventually dried up as the rocks here are both volcanic and sedimentary.[10]

The average altitude is 2,300, varying between 2,060 and 2,490 meters above sea level.[6][8] Major peaks include Peña Colorada, La Vibora, la Tezontlera, La Cantera and La Malinche, with the last two part of a small range called the Nixcongo.[10] From the highest elevations of the municipality, it is possible to see the peaks of the Nevado de Toluca and Popocatepetl .[1]

Wild vegetation is still abundant in the municipality with numerous plants species native to the area. Wildlife includes squirrels, armadillos, cacomixtle, rabbits, coyotes, bats, opossums, various lizards and other reptiles and various bird species. The higher elevations are heavily forested.[10]

The municipality's climate is temperate and semi moist with a rainy season. Average annual precipitation is between 1,000 and 1,500mm with most of this falling in the late summer and early fall. The rest of the year is mostly dry. Average annual temperature is 18.2C.[6][10]

The only surface water is dams constructed to collect runoff located in San José Tenería, Ejido de Tenancingo, San Nicolás Tepetzingo, Colonia San Isido and Ixpuichiapan, which provide water both for drinking and agriculture.[10]

The main natural attraction is the Hermenguildo Galeana Park, a 343-hectare reserve established in 1980 about 10 km outside the municipal seat. It is accessed only by dirt road and is heavily forested, but offers cabins, palapas and areas for horseback riding and other sports.[2][4][5] The Santa Ana Ixtlahualcingo Falls are four km outside the community of the same name which also has camping. One half km from here is another water fall called San Simonito.[4][5]

18°57′N 99°35′W