Huaquechula
Encyclopedia
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...
in east Puebla
Puebla
Puebla officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 217 municipalities and its capital city is Puebla....
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, as well as the name of the town that is its municipal seat.
The name Huaquechula comes from Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
Quauhquechollan, meaning "place of eagle-spoonbills".
In the early 16th century, the place was the site of an armed clash between Tlaxcaltecas and Mexicas in which the former wreaked bloody havoc. A son of Moctezuma Xocoyotzin ('Moctezuma the Younger', or Moctezuma II; c.1466-June 29, 1520), the Huey Tlatoani of the Mexicas from 1502 until 1520, died there in combat.