Acuitzio del Canje, Michoacán

Acuitzio del Canje
Acuitzio del Canje is located in Michoacán
Acuitzio del Canje
Acuitzio del Canje
Location of Acuitzio
Acuitzio del Canje is located in Mexico
Acuitzio del Canje
Acuitzio del Canje
Acuitzio del Canje (Mexico)
Coordinates: 19°30′N 101°20′W / 19.500°N 101.333°W / 19.500; -101.333
Country Mexico
State Michoacán
MunicipalityAcuitzio
Elevation
2,080 m (6,820 ft)
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)

Acuitzio del Canje is a town in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Acuitzio.

The area was originally settled in pre-Hispanic times. By 1620, it was a community of 20 families, with a hospital. In the early years of Mexican independence, an ayuntamiento was established there.

Name

"Acuitzio" is a word of Purépecha origin that means "place of snakes". The epithet "del Canje" (literally: "of the exchange") refers to an exchange of prisoners of war that took place in the town on 5 December 1865, during the French Intervention. On 16 December 1901, the State Congress enacted legislation for Acuitzio's name to be changed to Acuitzio del Canje.

References