Cacalchén Municipality

Cacalchén
Municipality
Principal Church of Cacalchén, Yucatán Principal Church of Cacalchén, Yucatán
Region 4 Litoral centro #007
Cacalchén Location of the Municipality in Mexico
Coordinates:
Country	Mexico
State	Yucatán
Government
• Type	2012–2015
• Municipal President	Eiter Georfrey Vazquez Sosa
Area
• Total	76.64 km2 (29.59 sq mi)
Elevation	10 m (30 ft)
Population (2010)
• Total	6,811
Time zone	Central Standard Time (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	Central Daylight Time (UTC-5)
INEGI Code	009
Major Airport	Merida (Manuel Crescencio Rejón) International Airport
IATA Code	MID
ICAO Code	MMMD
Website	Official Website

Cacalchén Municipality (In the Yucatec Maya Language: “place of the well with two mouths”) is one of the 106 municipalities in the Mexican state of Yucatán containing (76.64 km²) of land and located roughly 40 km east of the city of Mérida.

History

There is no extant record of Mayan settlement prior to the conquest. After the conquest the area became part of the encomienda system and Maria Sanchez Sosa was one of the first known encomenderos.

Yucatán declared its independence from the Spanish Crown in 1821 and in 1825, the area was assigned to the coastal region with its headquarters in Izamal. In May 1848 during the Caste War of Yucatán, Cacalchén became a refuge to Colonel José del Carmen Bello after the Mayan rebels defeated government troops and took Izamal. In December of the same year, the Mayan guerrillas commanded by Jacinto Pat looted the town and killed the white settlers.

In 1900 it was withdrawn and became head of the municipality which bears its name.

Governance

The municipal president is elected for a three-year term. The town council has seven aldermen who serve as councilors for public works, public services, ecology, parks, public sanitation, nomenclature and cemeteries.

Communities

The head of the municipality is Cacalchén, Yucatán. The other populated areas in the municipality are Catzín, Puhá, Sahcabá and San Antonio. The significant populations are shown below:

Community	Population
Entire Municipality (2010)	6,811
Cacalchén	6399 in 2005

Local festivals

Every year from 20 to 29 June a celebration is held in honor of the patron saints of the town, St. Peter and St. Paul.

Tourist attractions

• Church of St. Paul dates to the sixteenth century
• Hacienda Dzidzilché