San Juan Bautista Cuicatlán Explained

San Juan Bautista Cuicatlán
Settlement Type:Municipality and town
Motto:Tierra del Canto
Pushpin Map:Mexico
Pushpin Label Position:above
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Mexico
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Mexico
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Oaxaca
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:Jorge Guerrero
Area Total Km2:543.5
Population As Of:2005
Population Total:9181
Timezone:Central Standard Time
Utc Offset:-6
Timezone Dst:Central Daylight Time
Utc Offset Dst:-5
Coordinates:17.8°N -153°W
Elevation M:620
Postal Code:68600
Area Code:236

San Juan Bautista Cuicatlán is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 543.5 km2. It is located in Cuicatlán District in the north of the Cañada Region.

Demography

As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 9,181.[1]

Education

The education system in Cuicatlán consists solely of public schools. There are 12 pre-schools, 18 primary schools, two secondary schools, and one high school in the municipality of Cuicatlán. Four out of the 12 pre-schools are bilingual as well as two of the primary schools.

Culture

Cuicatlán hosts its patron saint festival (Saint John the Baptist) the 24th of June, with festivities occurring the entire week in the central park including dances, fireworks, rodeos, and basketball games. Other major fiestas include Day of the Dead (October 31 to November 2), Semana Santa (Easter), and Christmas.

Tourism

Located just outside the city center is the Cuicatlán Botanical Garden, which has trails that meander through a dry tropical forest. The Botanical Garden also has gazebos and a kitchen for hosting events, and will house the Cuicatlán Archeological Museum, which is currently under construction.

Cuicatlán neighbors several ecotourism hot spots including San Jose De Chilar, Santiago Quiotepec, and Santa Maria Tecomovaca. These sites offer green macaw sightseeing tours, guided nature walks, hiking, mountain biking, horseback ridings, kayaking, cabins, camp grounds, and ancient runes.

Food

Cuicatlán is home to the world-famous chilhuacle, or chili huatle pepper, which is in season only in late August and September.[2] Local people use this chili pepper to make typical dishes such as chile caldo. Other typical dishes of Cuicatlán include mole negro, mole rojo, salsa de chicatana (ants) which are only available during the early summer months.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: San Juan Bautista Cuicatlan. Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México. Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal. December 2, 2006. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20061202160210/http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/oaxaca/municipios/20177a.htm.
  2. Web site: Chilhuacle . . 7 October 2019.