Catemaco

{{Infobox settlement |name = Catemaco |settlement_type =City and municipal seat |other_name = |native_name = |nickname = |motto = |image_skyline = Catemaco Shore.jpg |imagesize = 300px |image_caption = Catemaco seen from the lake |image_flag = |flag_size = |image_seal = Escudo catemaco.jpg |seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size = |image_blank_emblem = |blank_emblem_type = |blank_emblem_size = |image_map = |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map = |dot_mapsize = |dot_map_caption = |dot_x = |dot_y = |pushpin_map = Mexico Veracruz#Mexico |pushpin_label_position =above |pushpin_mapsize =300 |pushpin_map_caption = |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = {{flag|Mexico}} |subdivision_type1 = State |subdivision_name1 = Veracruz |subdivision_type2 = Region |subdivision_name2 = Los Tuxtlas |subdivision_type3 = Municipality |subdivision_name3 = Catemaco |subdivision_type4 = |subdivision_name4 = |government_footnotes = |government_type = |leader_title =Municipal President |leader_name = Jorge Alberto Gonzalez Azamar |leader_title1 = |leader_name1 = |leader_title2 = |leader_name2 = |leader_title3 = |leader_name3 = |leader_title4 = |leader_name4 = |established_title = Founded |established_date = 1774 |established_title2 = |established_date2 = |established_title3 = Declared city |established_date3 = 1966  |area_magnitude = |unit_pref = |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 =  |area_water_km2 = |area_total_sq_mi = |area_land_sq_mi = |area_water_sq_mi = |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_metro_km2 = |area_metro_sq_mi = |area_blank1_title = |area_blank1_km2 = |area_blank1_sq_mi =  |population_as_of =2020 |population_footnotes = |population_note = |population_total =28655 |population_density_km2 = |population_density_sq_mi = |population_metro = |population_density_metro_km2 = |population_density_metro_sq_mi = |population_urban = |population_density_urban_km2 = |population_density_urban_sq_mi = |population_blank1_title = |population_blank1 = |population_blank2_title =Municipality |population_blank2 =49451 |population_density_blank1_km2 = |population_density_blank1_sq_mi =  |timezone = Central Standard Time |utc_offset = -6 |coordinates = {{coord|18|25|0|N|95|07|0|W|region:MX|display=inline;title}} |elevation_footnotes = |elevation_m = 340 |elevation_ft = 1116  |postal_code_type = Postal code |postal_code = 95870 |area_code = 294 |blank_name = |blank_info = |blank1_name = |blank1_info = |website = |footnotes = }}

'''Catemaco''' ({{IPA|es|kate'mako|lang|Catemaco1.ogg}}) is a city in the south of the Mexican state of Veracruz. It serves as the municipal seat for the municipality of the same name. The city is located on Lake Catemaco, with the municipality stretching north to the Gulf of Mexico. Catemaco is a tourist destination, with its main attractions being the lake, remnants of the region's rainforest and a tradition of sorcery/witchcraft that has its roots in the pre-colonial period and is mostly practiced by men. This tradition is well-known in Mexico and attracts clients from various walks of life, including businessmen and national-level politicians. Catemaco holds an annual event in March dedicated to sorcery, which can draw up to 5,000 visitors.

==The city== left|thumb|Breakwater/boardwalk along Lake Catemaco The city of Catemaco is located in southern Veracruz, about 160 km from the port of Veracruz and 220 km from the state capital at Xalapa.<ref name=semar>{{cite web |title= Catemaco, Veracruz |publisher=SEMAR |url= http://digaohm.semar.gob.mx/cuestionarios/cnarioCatemaco.pdf|accessdate=May 3, 2014 }}</ref><ref name=encmuc>{{cite web |work=Enciclopedia de Los Municipios y Delegaciones de México Estado de Veracruz-Llave |title=Catemaco |publisher=INAFED |location=Mexico |language=Spanish |url=http://www.inafed.gob.mx/work/enciclopedia/EMM30veracruz/index.html |accessdate=May 3, 2014 |archive-date=November 9, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109182513/http://www.inafed.gob.mx/work/enciclopedia/EMM30veracruz/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is located inland, extending 2.5 km along the shore of Lake Catemaco, a large freshwater lake, which is one of the city's main tourist attractions, along with its cuisine and its tradition of sorcery.<ref name=semar/> Along the lake, the city has a 1.5 km breakwater/boardwalk, which is frequently crowded with both visitors and vendors, especially those selling charms and a local freshwater snail called tegogolo.<ref name=semar/><ref name=rincones>{{cite book |title=Veracruz: Guía para descubrir los encantos del estado |publisher=Editorial Océano de México |location=Mexico City |year=2010 |isbn=978-607-400-323-9 |pages=73–74}}</ref> The city's docks are located in the center of this area, classified as a fishing and tourism port by the federal government. Most of the boat traffic is for tourism, especially during vacation periods.<ref name=semar/>

The other main section of the city is the main plaza, popular with both residents and visitors.<ref name=rincones/> The main structure here is the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Veneration of this version of the Virgin Mary, the patroness of the municipality, began in the early colonial period, as a substitute for the local worship of Chalchiuhtlicue, the goddess of water and fishermen.<ref name=encmuc/><ref name=eanaya>{{cite news |author=Edgar Anaya|title= Catemaco: El embrujo de un lago |newspaper=El Norte |date=August 12, 2001 |page= 1}}</ref> This basilica contains an image of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which has been credited with miracles.<ref name=semar/> It is rivaled in devotion only by a shrine on an island in Lake Catemaco called El Tegal, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared.<ref name=eanaya/> The current structure was begun in 1799 but was not finished until 1961.<ref name=semar/> The church is a combination of Baroque and Neoclassical with a cupola 21 meters high. The surrounding stained glass windows depict the lives of Jesus and Mary.<ref name=rincones/> Each year, Our Lady of Mount Carmel is celebrated at this basilica, a launching of boats in procession to Agaltepec Island and traditional music including danzón, Son Jarocho and other tropical music, using guitars, violins, the vihuela and double bass.<ref name=encmuc/><ref name=rincones/>

Other landmarks in the city include the Statue of the Fisherman, the Torre del Reloj (Clock Tower), the Brizuela Absalón House, the Gasca Blanco House and the Herrera García House.<ref name=encmuc/> The Casa de los Tesoros is a large gift shop, which offers bagels, bizcochos and Mexican handcrafts and folk art.<ref name=semar/>

There is a bus station principally connecting the city with the ports of Veracruz and Coatzacoalcos.<ref name=semar/>

==The "witches" of Catemaco== thumb|300px|Grounds where the annual "brujo" reunion is held in Catemaco Catemaco is known in Mexico for its community of ''brujos'' and ''brujas'', which can be translated as 'witches' or 'sorcerers', as most are men but some are woman.<ref name=encmuc/><ref name=jbudd>{{cite news |author=Jim Budd|title= Viajando Ligero/ El misterioso Catemaco |newspaper=Reforma |location=Mexico City |date=October 27, 2002 |page=5 }}</ref> The history of magical practices here extends back to the pre-Hispanic period and may have survived because of its relative isolation,<ref name=rincones/><ref name=mexconnect>{{cite web |author=Diodora Bucur |title= Catemaco: Mexico's cradle of sorcery and witchcraft: Veracruz town hosts the annual National Congress of Sorcerers |date=March 3, 2010 |publisher=Mexconnect newsletter |issn=1028-9089 |url= http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/3605-catemaco-mexico-s-cradle-of-sorcery-and-witchcraft |accessdate=May 3, 2014 }}</ref> but Lake Catemaco is said to emit a kind of energy, along with the Mono Blanco Mountain that rises above it.<ref name=jbudd/>

These magical practices are an uneasy mix of Catholic rite, especially the invocation of saints and pre-Hispanic beliefs and rituals.<ref name=mexconnect/> Though many tourists are simply amused by the kitschy T-shirts of witches or other souvenirs or attractions, some do take the practice seriously. There are practitioners of both “white” and “black” magic, with the white version being more acceptable. Those who practice the black version charge more.<ref name=jbudd/>

Sorcery is one of the main attractions of Catemaco. The belief in magical practices has attracted people from all walks of life, from waiters and taxi drivers to national-level politicians. Veracruz governor Fidel Herrera Beltrán even pushed for a national school for sorcery in Catemaco, without success and is a regular at the annual event. Visitors usually seek limpias (ritual cleansings), healing or something to give them an edge in business.<ref name=jbudd/><ref name=mexconnect/> These magical practices have also migrated out of the Catemaco area as residents move to other places such as Ciudad Juárez to work.<ref name=hnajera>{{cite news |author=Horacio Nájera |title= Tiene Catemaco 'sucursal' en Ciudad Juárez |newspaper=El Norte |location=Monterrey |date=March 28, 2007 |page=13}}</ref>

Although the sorcery is a main attraction, it is not promoted as part of Halloween or Day of the Dead.<ref name=jbudd/> The main event for practitioners is the annual Congreso Nacional de Brujos de Catemaco (officially called the Ritos, Ceremonias y Artesanías Mágicas because of objections from the Catholic Church) .<ref name=encmuc/><ref name=mexconnect/> The main event is the opening, on the first Friday of March. This begins with a “black mass” held at midnight the night before, formerly held on the edge of Lake Catemaco by the “brujo mayor” (loosely translated as “high witch or sorcerer”), which has attracted up to 5,000 people. More recently this large public black mass has been replaced by private ceremonies held separately by each of the main brujos in the grounds of their own property. The next afternoon (on the first Friday of March) there is a public procession where each brujo and their followers process through the town, culminating in a public celebration involving traditional dance. The event was founded in the 1970s by former brujo mayor Gonzalo Aguirre and today attracts around 200 shamans, healers (curanderos), herbalists, psychics and fortune tellers. It also brings in as much as three million pesos to the local economy.<ref name=mexconnect/>

The popularity of the brujos and the event has created problems as well. Many con artists have taken advantage of the situation, making the finding of genuine practitioners difficult.<ref name=mexconnect/><ref name=levgarcia>{{cite news |author=Lev Garcia|title= Hacen de Catemaco un campo de batalla |newspaper=Reforma |location=Mexico City |date=March 14, 2004 |page=22}}</ref> There have been disputes among the practitioners over clients, tourism, and who leads the rites at the annual gathering. There has also been controversy related to those who sacrifice animals or petition Santa Muerte or the Devil.<ref name=levgarcia/>

==History== In the early pre Hispanic period, the area was dominated by the Olmecs,<ref name=eanaya/> but the name is derived from Nahuatl, meaning "place of the burned houses". This name is probably in reference to an eruption of the San Martin Volcano.<ref name=encmuc/> However, the assumed meaning “place of the burned houses” is grammatically impossible per Nahuatl. Consider Alexis Wimmer’s basic form ''ācaltēma'' to mean ‘load (something) into a boat’ to produce a derived but unattested form *[''a'']''ca''[''l'']''tema''[''h'']''co'' ‘at the place where boats are loaded’.<ref>Karen Dakin, pers. comm. Aug. 2022, to Carl Masthay, concerning data from Alexis Wimmer (2006). ''Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl classique'' (online version, incorporating reproductions from ''Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl ou mexicaine'' [1885], by Rémi Siméon).</ref> Another but less likely idea is that Catemaco is from Nahuatl ''cal-temactli'' ‘a house/houses that is/are given to someone’. ''Caltemaco'' would then be the nonactive form of the verb.<ref>Michael McCafferty, pers. com., 17 Aug. 2022, to Carl Masthay.</ref>

From the 16th century, the area was part of the province of Santiago Tuxtla, which became a municipality after Independence. The city itself was founded in 1774. In 1881, it officially became a town and in 1966 it was declared a city.<ref name=encmuc/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Catemaco, Veracruz}} *{{Wikivoyage-inline|Catemaco}} *[http://www.catemaco.info/catemaco/ Catemaco Guide] * {{in lang|es}} [http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020914131224/http%3A//www.catemaco.gob.mx/ Municipal Official Site] * {{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721171736/http://portal.veracruz.gob.mx/portal/page?_pageid=153%2C4493464&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&municipio=catemaco.pdf Municipal Official Information] * {{in lang|es}} [https://enlostuxtlas.com/catemaco/ More details about Catemaco, Veracruz]

Category:Los Tuxtlas Category:Populated places in Veracruz