Ocotepec
Encyclopedia
Ocotepec is a small town to the north of the city of Cuernavaca
, but within the municipality of Cuernavaca. The name Ocotepec means “on the hill of the ocotes, or Montezuma pines.” It is located only minutes from the center of Cuernavaca on the highway that leads to Tepotzlán. The community is divided into four neighborhoods based on the major churches in town, which is an organization left over from the colonial period. The four neighborhoods are Candelaria, Dolores, Ramos and Santa Cruz, each with its own patron saint and feast day. This organization is part of the reason why this community has managed to maintain more ancient traditions, a number of which date from the pre-Hispanic period. Ocotepec is one of the most traditional communities in the municipality of Cuernavaca. On the main road through town, there are dozens of stores specializing in handcrafted clay, stone and wood pieces, as well as rustic furniture
. Among these shops are restaurants and food stalls specializing in barbacoa
and cecina
.
, a barrel vault
roof, buttress
es on the sides, battlements and a bell tower on the south side. The facade of the church is of Baroque style and sculpted out of lime mortar
. To the side there are arches of the cloister
for the monastery, but this was never finished. The complex faces a large atrium
that is surrounded by a wall, which has battlements and a cornerstone with the date of the church’s consecration.
with masses, altars to the deceased and visits to the cemetery, but Ocotepec has some unique observances as well. Commemoration of the dead actually begins on the feast day of Saint Luke on October 18th. Much of the time between the 18th and the 31st is taken up with a novena in honor of the deceased. The most notable difference is the “ofrenda nueva” or literally new offering. Altars are especially created to honor those who have died in the past year. These tend to be the most elaborate, decorated with food and drink the deceased enjoyed in life as well as sugar skulls, numerous flowers, such as Mexican marigolds and candles. In the case of children, toys and sweets are laid on the altar. On many altars here, representations of the four elements, earth, water, fire and air are represented by bread, water, candles and crepe paper respectively. There also can be four candles in the form of a cross oriented to the four cardinal directions. This serves to bless the path that deceased is supposed to take as they rejoin he living on this day. The centerpiece of an ofrenda nueva altar is an effigy of the newly-deceased made from fruit, bread and or vegetables, dressed in new clothing and shoes bought for the occasion.
Those houses which have a “new offering” that year can be identified by a path of marigold
petals that extend from the altar to the sidewalk outside the house. This serves not only as a signal for the recently deceased, as to find his or her way, but it also is an invitation to the living to come into the home and admire the nueva ofrenda altar. Such visitors are greeted with bread, “ponche” (a hot spiced fruit drink), coffee and tamales. In return visitor light candles and/or leave flowers on the altar.
Another tradition that is particular to this town is a procession that happens on the nights of October 31 and November 1. The whole village files into the cemetery on both nights, carrying offerings and food to eat while seated alongside the tombs. Church bells ring on the night of October 31 to announce the arriving Day of Deceased Children, November 1. On this morning, the graveyard is visited and decorated with multicolored flowers and a Mass is said in honor of those children who have passed on. Later that night, church bells ring again to announce Day of the Dead, November 2, when visits are again made and another Mass is said, this time for adults.
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It was established at the archeological site of Gualupita I by the Olmec, "the mother culture" of Mesoamerica, approximately 3200 years ago...
, but within the municipality of Cuernavaca. The name Ocotepec means “on the hill of the ocotes, or Montezuma pines.” It is located only minutes from the center of Cuernavaca on the highway that leads to Tepotzlán. The community is divided into four neighborhoods based on the major churches in town, which is an organization left over from the colonial period. The four neighborhoods are Candelaria, Dolores, Ramos and Santa Cruz, each with its own patron saint and feast day. This organization is part of the reason why this community has managed to maintain more ancient traditions, a number of which date from the pre-Hispanic period. Ocotepec is one of the most traditional communities in the municipality of Cuernavaca. On the main road through town, there are dozens of stores specializing in handcrafted clay, stone and wood pieces, as well as rustic furniture
Rustic furniture
Rustic furniture is furniture employing sticks, twigs or logs for a natural look. Many companies, artists and craftspeople make rustic furniture in a variety of styles and with a variety of historical and contemporary influences...
. Among these shops are restaurants and food stalls specializing in barbacoa
Barbacoa
Barbacoa is a form of cooking meat that originated in the Caribbean with the Taíno people, from which the term "barbecue" derives. In contemporary Mexico it generally refers to meats or a whole sheep slow-cooked over an open fire, or more traditionally, in a hole dug in the ground covered with...
and cecina
Cecina
Cecina may refer to:*Cecina, Tuscany, a town in the Italian Province of Livorno*Cecina , a river in Italy*Cecina , a Spanish and Mexican culinary specialty made of beef*Farinata, a Tuscan culinary specialty made of chickpea flour...
.
Church of the Divino Salvador
The main church of the town is the Church of the Divino Salvador. This church was begun in 1532 and finished in 1592. It has a single naveNave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
, a barrel vault
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
roof, buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es on the sides, battlements and a bell tower on the south side. The facade of the church is of Baroque style and sculpted out of lime mortar
Lime mortar
Lime mortar is a type of mortar composed of lime and an aggregate such as sand, mixed with water. It is one of the oldest known types of mortar, dating back to the 4th century BC and widely used in Ancient Rome and Greece, when it largely replaced the clay and gypsum mortars common to Ancient...
. To the side there are arches of the cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
for the monastery, but this was never finished. The complex faces a large atrium
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
that is surrounded by a wall, which has battlements and a cornerstone with the date of the church’s consecration.
Town cemetery
The other, and perhaps more important, cultural attraction here is the town’s cemetery. It is filled with very traditional examples of tomb construction in modern Mexico. Most of the tombs here are covered over with small-scale churches, cathedrals and houses, which are brightly painted and/or tiled. Here preparations for one of the biggest days of the year are made, Dia de los Muertos..Dia de los Muertos
Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a particularly important event in this town. Most of the traditions here are similar to those in the rest of MexicoMexico
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...
with masses, altars to the deceased and visits to the cemetery, but Ocotepec has some unique observances as well. Commemoration of the dead actually begins on the feast day of Saint Luke on October 18th. Much of the time between the 18th and the 31st is taken up with a novena in honor of the deceased. The most notable difference is the “ofrenda nueva” or literally new offering. Altars are especially created to honor those who have died in the past year. These tend to be the most elaborate, decorated with food and drink the deceased enjoyed in life as well as sugar skulls, numerous flowers, such as Mexican marigolds and candles. In the case of children, toys and sweets are laid on the altar. On many altars here, representations of the four elements, earth, water, fire and air are represented by bread, water, candles and crepe paper respectively. There also can be four candles in the form of a cross oriented to the four cardinal directions. This serves to bless the path that deceased is supposed to take as they rejoin he living on this day. The centerpiece of an ofrenda nueva altar is an effigy of the newly-deceased made from fruit, bread and or vegetables, dressed in new clothing and shoes bought for the occasion.
Those houses which have a “new offering” that year can be identified by a path of marigold
Tagetes
Tagetes is a genus of 56 species of annual and perennial mostly herbaceous plants in the sunflower family . The genus is native to North and South America, but some species have become naturalized around the world. One species, T...
petals that extend from the altar to the sidewalk outside the house. This serves not only as a signal for the recently deceased, as to find his or her way, but it also is an invitation to the living to come into the home and admire the nueva ofrenda altar. Such visitors are greeted with bread, “ponche” (a hot spiced fruit drink), coffee and tamales. In return visitor light candles and/or leave flowers on the altar.
Another tradition that is particular to this town is a procession that happens on the nights of October 31 and November 1. The whole village files into the cemetery on both nights, carrying offerings and food to eat while seated alongside the tombs. Church bells ring on the night of October 31 to announce the arriving Day of Deceased Children, November 1. On this morning, the graveyard is visited and decorated with multicolored flowers and a Mass is said in honor of those children who have passed on. Later that night, church bells ring again to announce Day of the Dead, November 2, when visits are again made and another Mass is said, this time for adults.