Orizaba
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Looking north, Orizaba in the middle distance, the Pico de Orizaba on the horizon
Orizaba is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located 20 km west of its sister city Córdoba, and is adjacent to Río Blanco and Ixtaczoquitlán, on Federal Highways 180 and 190. The city had a 2005 census population of 117,273 and is almost coextensive with its small municipality, with only a few small areas outside the city. The municipality's population was 117,289 and it has an area of 27.97 km² (10.799 sq mi).
The name Orizaba comes from a Hispanized pronunciation of the Nahuatl (Aztecan) name Ahuilizapan [āwil-lis-ā-pan], which means (more or less) "place of playing waters". The town lies at 1200 m. (4000 ft.), at the confluence of the Río Blanco with several tributaries, including the Río Orizaba, near the mouth of a large valley heading westward into the eastern Sierra Madre. This location, at the bottom of the ascent into the mountains, is an important transition point along what has been for centuries the main trade route between Mexico City and Veracruz on the Gulf Coast. The climate is generally pleasant, though often cloudy and rainy, and the soil of the Orizaba valley is extraordinarily fertile. Overlooking the valley from the north is the Pico de Orizaba (Citlaltépetl), a volcano that, at 5636 m. (18,490 ft.), is the highest mountain in Mexico and third highest in North America.
In the town of Ixhuatlancillo north of Orizaba, and in a large mountainous area to the south (the Sierra de Zongolica), live many thousands of people who speak a variant of Nahuatl which is often called Orizaba Nahuatl [ ISO code nlv].
Orizaba was already an important town at the time of the Spanish conquest, and it was in Orizaba that La Malinche, Hernán Cortés's interpreter and mistress, was married to the Spanish gentleman Juan Jaramillo. A plaque in Orizaba commemorates this event.
During the colonial period, Orizaba became an important city. On January 27, 1774, the Spanish king Carlos III conceded the villa status to Orizaba, and in November 29, 1830 Orizaba was declared a city.
When Lucas Alamán established, in 1836, the first textile factory (Cocolapan factory) of Orizaba, the city started its economic life as an industrial city.
In 1839 the newspaper La Luz was created and the Veracruz governor Francisco Hernández y Hernández gave the name of Veracruz-Llave (remembering the General Ignacio de la Llave, who was born in Orizaba) to this state of Mexico.
On May 8, 1874 Orizaba was declared the capital city of Veracruz, but in 1878 the status was transferred to Xalapa.
During the government of Porfirio Díaz, Orizaba was declared the most educated city in the Mexican province.
There is a building named El Palacio de Hierro (The Iron Palace) in the centre of the city that was designed by Eiffel. Its parts were shipped from Austria during El Porfiriato (the government of Porfirio Díaz), to be built in Orizaba.
Orizaba has an important industrial life. There is, for example, the Cervecería Moctezuma company (a brewery), which was established in 1896 in Orizaba.
In the late years of Porfirio Díaz' Government, two important workers strikes occurred, those of Cananea and Río Blanco, the latter taking place in Orizaba and being an important prelude to the Mexican Revolution.
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[edit] Monuments and buildings
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- The Iron Palace
- El Palacio Municipal (The Municipal Palace)
- The Church of Carmen
- The Church of La Concordia
- State Art Museum
[edit] Important people from Orizaba
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- Alejandra Boschetti Reyes
- Francisco Gabilondo Soler (or Cri-Cri)
- José Joaquín Pesado
- José Bernardo Couto
- Ignacio de la Llave
- Ignacio Suárez Peredo
- Gregorio Mendizábal
- Sara García
- Manuel Escandón
- Silvestre Moreno Cora
- Joaquín Arroniz
- Rafael Delgado
- Carlos Aguilar Múñoz
- Rafael Rojina Villegas
- José Sánchez Oropeza
- Marcos Lezama Sierravigas
[edit] References
- Link to tables of population data from Census of 2005 INEGI: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática
- Veracruz Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México
[edit] External links
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