Xalapa (often spelled Jalapa, Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈlapa] (listen); English: /həˈlɑːpə/;[1] officially Xalapa-Enríquez [xaˈlapa enˈrikes]) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which it serves as municipal seat reported a population of 413,136.[2] The municipality has an area of 118.45 km². Xalapa lies near the geographic center of the state and is the second-largest city in the state after the city of Veracruz to the southeast. Xalapa is the place of origin of the famous Jalapeño peppers.
The Totonacs first established themselves around Macuiltepetl [es] (“fifth mountain” in Nahuatl).[3] This extinct volcano received its name because the Aztecs used it as the fifth reference mountain to get to the gulf of Mexico’s shores. Today it is preserved in a park. During the 14th century, four indigenous peoples settled in the territory today known as Xalapa. Each built a small village: Xalitic (in the sand) was founded by the Totonacas; Techacapan (river of waste) was founded by the Chichimecas; in the northeast Tecuanapan (river of the beasts) was founded by the Toltecas, and Tlalnecapan was founded by the Teochichimecas.
Around 1313, the four villages grew together and joined, forming one large village named Xallapan. Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, the fifth Aztec emperor, invaded the territory during the second half of the 15th century. All the land was ruled as part of the Aztec Empire before the arrival and conquest of the Spanish conquistadores.
In 1519 Hernán Cortés passed through en route to Tenochtitlan.[4]:135 In 1555 Spanish Franciscans completed construction of a convent, an important event in the Nueva España of that time.
