Cuernavaca, Morelos

So my friend Javier invited me to go to his family's vacation home in Cuauhtla, in the state of Morelos. We used that weekend to explore a few places in Morelos, like the largest city in Morelos, the capital Cuernavaca. Known as Cuauhnahuac ("Place nears trees") before the Spaniards arrived, this region of Mexico, like so many others, had many different groups of indigenous peoples and much history that preceded the Spanish Invasion in the 16th century. Cuernavaca is also known as the "City of Eternal Spring" given its lovely year-round average temperature of 72degrees. It is famous for its art, history and Spanish language schools. Emperor Charles V gave Cuernavaca to Hernando Cortes and the Spaniards introduced sugar-cane cultivation to the area. Emperor Maxmilian resided in what is known today as the Jardin Borda, but I didn't really take any pictures there (it was mostly trees). The last picture is of the great Hacienda de Cortes which belonged to Martin, the son of Cortes and which has been converted into a museum. The people in Cuernavaca are very friendly (must have something to do with that beautiful climate!) and I enjoyed spending the rainy afternoon here in Cuernavaca.

These are some of the artifacts from the indigenous cultures surrounding what is now Cuernavaca. They are all housed within the great Hacienda de Cortes museum. Outside of the museum sits a Cuexcomate (Cuesh-co-mah-te), used as a symbol of wealth; people would store things in their Cuexcomates, therefore, the more things that one had, the more Cuexcomates one had. And these could be found right outside of their thatched-roof homes, in their yard. The stone statue-like figure is from Xochicalco, also in the state of Morelos. The other two stone sculptures show a possible writing system and the elongated stone with the face on it displays certain Olmec characterisitcs. The last image is of a page found within an indigenous paper-book from the 16th century. It is very fascinating to be able to get a close look at all of these artifacts, the material culture of the indigenous peoples from within and around Cuauhnahuac.

And here are some of the murals painted by Diego Rivera, demonstrating the power and impact of the Spaniards. The indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica were never considered to be "gente de razon", or people of reason so the Spanish Inquisition supposedly never subjected them to any of its trials, rules, laws and regulations (unlike the African slaves who were brought to the "New World" and because they were from the "Old World", of course they were subjected to the requirements and belief system established and maintained by the Inquisition). But these murals are quite impressive; there aren't as many as at the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, but I enjoyed being able to see them.