Cuernavaca

Sister cities

• Minneapolis
• Laredo
• Denver
• Acapulco de Juárez

History

Burials dated to c. 1000 BCE have been found in Gualupita, Morelos, in the north of the city. The first major culture to inhabit this area was the Tlahuica, a Nahua people whose main settlement was where the city of Cuernavaca is today. The Tlahuicas have inhabited this area at least since the 12th century. The first incursions south into the area by peoples of the Valley of Mexico occurred in the 12th century, when a lord named King Xolotl (ruler of Tetzcoco) conquered most of the Valley of Mexico. An allied Chichimeca tribe also moved south into what is now northern Morelos state, making Techintecuitla lord of the Cuauhnahuac (as they called the city) area, with the Tlahuicas concentrated in the nearby towns of Yecapixtla and Yautecatle. According to the Tlatelolco Annals, in 1365, the lord of Cuauhnahuac, Macuilxochitl, tried to conquer lands as far as the Valley of Mexico, but was met by the lord of Chalco, Tzalcualtitlan, with similar ambitions. Cuauhnahuac grew to rule over most of what is now the western portion of the state of Morelos. The first Aztec emperor, Acamapichtli, began to expand his empire to the south of the Valley of Mexico and beyond in the 1370s. His successor, Huitzilihuitl, was eager to press on into what is now Morelos state because of the cotton grown there, it was called Tlalnahuatl at that time. He asked to marry the daughter of the ruler of Tlalnahuatl but was rejected. That rejection started a war that ended with an Aztec victory in 1396. Huitziliuitl then married the princess and Moctezuma I was born of the union. Credit for the conquest of Cuernavaca is given to Acamapichtli in the Mendocino Codex, but later writings cite Itzcóatl, or even Moctezuma I, as the conqueror. The conquered dominion, Tlalnahuac, was roughly the size of the…

Geography

The municipality is located between the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in the north and the Sierra Madre del Sur in the south, in a sub-mountain range named the Sierra del Chichinautzin. The municipality contains an area of ; is dedicated to agriculture, for fishing, is developed, and is forest. The average altitude is above sea level, varying between . The highest elevations are in the east and north. During the rainy season, rivers are formed in the ravines of Minaltepec, Ajomulco, Los Caldos (with the San Anton Falls), Los Pocitos, 'El Pollo and El Chiflón; together they form the Cuernavaca River. The riverbeds of Tepoztitlán and Mexicana form the Río Tembembe. Other streams are in the gulch of las Canoas (which crosses Tetela del Monte and joins the Atzingo), the Tecolote (which forms the San Anton waterfall), the Amanalco (which drains in the Río Apatlaco), the Otates, the Santa Úrsula (which drains into the Río Tetlama), and the Muerto (which begins in Ahuatepec and crosses Flores Magón). The springs in Cuernavaca are: Los Atzingo, el túnel de Santa María, Sanguijuela, Huitzilac, Axomulco, and Chapultepec. The municipality is located in the Amacuzac River Basin.

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  2,880
• Barn Swallow

  Hirundo rustica Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,789
• Brown-backed Solitaire

  Myadestes occidentalis Stejneger, 1882 · Aves
  2,516
• Inca Dove

  Columbina inca (R.Lesson, 1847) · Aves
  2,443
• Rufous-backed Robin

  Turdus rufopalliatus Lafresnaye, 1840 · Aves
  2,339
• Acorn Woodpecker

  Melanerpes formicivorus (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  2,161
• Gray Silky-flycatcher

  Ptilogonys cinereus Swainson, 1827 · Aves
  2,142
• Black Vulture

  Coragyps atratus (Bechstein, 1793) · Aves
  2,093

Most recent

• M 5 — 2025-02-28
  3 km NE of Pololcingo, Mexico
• M 2.9 — 2024-09-26
  2 km N of Álvaro Obregón, Mexico
• M 5.7 — 2023-12-07
  12 km SSW of Huehuetlan el Chico, Mexico
• M 4 — 2023-09-14
  5 km W of Tequicuilco, Mexico
• M 3.2 — 2023-05-11
  3 km SSE of Colonia Nativitas, Mexico
• M 3.1 — 2019-07-17
  3 km ESE of Venustiano Carranza, Mexico