Calimaya

Calimaya
Town & Municipality
Calimaya de Díaz González
Clock tower and plaza
Coordinates: 19°09′39″N 99°37′02″W / 19.16083°N 99.61722°W / 19.16083; -99.61722Coordinates: 19°09′39″N 99°37′02″W / 19.16083°N 99.61722°W / 19.16083; -99.61722
Country	Mexico
State	State of Mexico
Founded	800 CE
Municipal Status	1824
Government
• Municipal President	Irad Mercado Avila 2009-2012
Area
• Municipality	103.11 km2 (39.81 sq mi)
Elevation (of seat)	2,690 m (8,830 ft)
Population (2010) Municipality
• Municipality	47,033
• Seat	6,726
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
Postal code (of seat)	52200
Area code(s)	722
Website	calimaya.gob.mx

Calimaya is a town and municipality located just south of Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico in central Mexico. The settlement was probably established around 800 BCE, when the city of Teotenango was in existence. It remained an important town through the colonial period, part of the vast lands held by a family which came to be known as the Counts of Calimaya. The town is home to one of the oldest examples of an open chapel in the State of Mexico. Today, the municipality is still mostly agricultural but there has been rapid construction of housing divisions, changing parts of it from rural to suburban.

The town of Calimaya is located south of the city of Toluca in the Valley of Toluca. It is divided into five neighborhoods: Los Angeles, El Calvario, San Martin, Gualupita and San Juan. The town centers on a square called the Plaza de Kiosko which is flanked by the municipal palace, a set of arches that contains businesses and the Casa de Cultura. This “culture house” contains old documents and archeological pieces, as well as the municipal library, which was opened in 1986.

The plaza area is bordered on the east by Juárez Street. Directly across this street is the clock tower and the former Franciscan monastery and current parish church. The clock tower was built in 1910, as part of preparations for the Centennial of Mexico’s Independence.

The parish of San Pedro y San Pablo is part of a former Franciscan monastery complex mostly constructed between 1529 and 1594. It is one of the most complete former monasteries to survive from the 16th century in the Valley of Toluca. The complex consists of a main church, an open chapel, a baptistery, a chapel called the Capillas de la Tercera Orden and an atrium with some remaining chapels. The main churche contains an altarpiece from the 16th century with an image called “El Señor del Cuerito” (The Lord of the Leather), which is an image painted on leather, which was considered very miraculous a long time ago. It also contains a painting called La Madre María de la Luz by Miguel Cabrera.

The open chapel and baptistery area is the oldest surviving part of the complex. The chapel is believed to have been built in 1529 by the Franciscans that came to evangelize the area and one of the first of its kind in New Spain. One unusual characteristic of the chapel is that the four arches are asymmetrical. It has been listed as a historic monument by INAH as it combines European and indigenous elements. The baptistery contains the originally 16th century font. Despite its importance historically, the open chapel is the least visited monument in the State of Mexico. The main reason is that it is not as well known as contemporaries such as the monastery in Acolman.