Atotonilco El Grande


Atotonilco El Grande is a town and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Atotonilco El Grande. The municipality covers an area of 426.6 km².
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 23,823.

Meaning of the name

To have a difference between this place from other, that had the same name, in ancient times it was known as "Huei-Atotonilco", this means Atotonilco el Grande, since the "Huei"in Nahuatl language also comes from "Huehuetl", meaning great or old.
Here's how over time it has retained the Nahuatl name, in this case translated into Castilian.

History

There isn't too much information about the history of Atotonilco el Grande, but it is estimated that in pre-Columbian times, this area of the state of Hidalgo was occupied by Teotihuacanos. This groups settled around Atotonilco from approximately 200 B.C.
Among other historical data of this place takes place after the Spanish conquest the first who lived in this population was Don Pedro Paz, son of Don Francisco Nuñez and Doña Ines de la Paz; he was appointed the same encomendero, but receive an annual tribute of corn, wheat and money, whose amount was $5,500.00; Who at his death he was succeeded by his wife Dona Francisca Ferrer, who in his second nuptials married Don Pedro Gomez de Casares, the son of the conqueror Andres de Tapia, who was captain under the orders of Cortes.
Atotonilco was one of the main towns in 1746, date on which it was inhabited by 265 families of Indians, who were managed by a religious priest of San Augustine convent of this town; also lived some families of Spaniards and some mestizos who were busy for farming and fruit crops.