Valle de Bravo
A bit of history
Valle de Bravo, Mexico is a historical colonial town located at 1785 amsl 38km away from Xinantecatl (Nevado de Toluca) Volcano 4.680m, only 2 hours drive from Mexico City and one hour from Toluca Airport.
Proclaimed “Pueblo Mágico” in 2005, there is indeed a lot of magic in it, and for this reason, it has always been a popular vacation destination for the capital’s affluent upper class. Valle de Bravo has been inhabited since ancient times. There is evidence of occupation as early as the Upper Paleolithic 12-10,000 B.P. Findings of ancient sedentary populations such as Chupicuaro culture (800 - 200 B.P.) suggest that it was a very fertile enclave.
Important cultural traits such figurines and architecture, suggest cultural contact with powerful cities including Teotihuacan. Archaeological findings refer that the pre-Hispanic Valle de Bravo had its peak in 600-1000 A.D during the rise of Tula and the fall of Teotihuacan between other important contemporary Mesoamerican cities and was characterized by having multiple ethnicities that cohabited together such as the Otomi, Matlatzinca, Mazahua and Nahua populations.
Around the period from 1200 to 1521 AD, Valle de Bravo was located between the two most powerful empires of Mesoamerica: the Tarascans and the Mexica (Aztecs), both of which tried on many occasions to control this resourceful and rich region giving rise to conflicts in the area and turning it into a dynamic-moving frontier until the arrival of the Europeans. Today, most of the buildings of the colonial town of Valle de Bravo are built on top of the prehispanic settlement.
After the destruction of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) by the Spanish, campaigns to subdue the area were carried out followed by evangelization of the Dominicans and the Augustinians. Around 1530, the Franciscan friar Gregorio Jiménez de la Cuenca founded the town as a congregation called "El Pino". Between 1607 and 1615, a Franciscan convent was established here, giving the town that grew up around it its original name of San Francisco del Valle de Temascaltepec.
The town suffered greatly during the Mexican War of Independence due to the monarchy's attempts to repress the rebellion there. Another short-lived rebellion occurred in 1834 proclaimed to re-establish the empire of Moctezuma. However, most people considered the cause to be ridiculous and the movement quickly died out. The village gained town status in 1842 and city status in 1878. In the beginning of the 19th century. The town also saw incursions by Zapatistas during the Mexican Revolution.*
*Patricio Gutiérrez is a mexican archaeologist from Valle currently studing an M.A. in bioanthropology at the University of Montana, MT. patricio@arqueologia.red
Today
Valle de Bravo
Because of high demand for electricity of the growing Mexico City, a 2,900 agricultural hectares that formed part of the central valley had to be flooded. This is how the Valle de Bravo lake was created in 1955
Thanks to consistency West winds at the lake, sailors found the best place for practice and Valle de Bravo become 1968 Olympic Games spot for Lazer and other Olympic sailing categories. Later in 1978 a small group of Hang Gliding pioneers found “La Torre” and was flown for the first time on August 13th 1978 by Miguel Gutiérrez age 15, becoming the perfect spot for flying. Ever since, Valle de Bravo became the most popular place to fly in Mexico.
El Peñón in Temascaltepec was discovered later and was flown for the first time by Felipe Nieto on January 19th 1985 finding the perfect spot for Cross Country flying. Today wealthy Mexican families have in Valle de Bravo and its surroundings the perfect spot for their getaways, walking around the town and get lost in its flowery narrow lane, it won’t take much to notice the opulent villas scattered around the hills with stunning views over the lake. If you happen to pay a visit to the nearby Avandaro and take a walk in the golf club you will see even more of it.
Food
Mexican food is one of the UNESCO´s list of Cultural Heritage of Humanity and Valle de Bravo has their own spectacular traditional food such as tacos, cecina, sopa de tortilla, enchiladas, esquites, tamales, campechanas (sweet puff pastry) and many more.
Carefull:
• Do not drink tap water, drink bottled water (or beer :)
• Food can be hot! and you can get Moctezuma´s revenge.
Monarch Butterflies
Each year, millions of Monarch butterflies migrate over 4,500 km from southern Canada to spend the winter in the sanctuaries contained within the Butterfly Biosphere Reserve shared by the Estado de México and Michoacan.
Valle de Bravo is fortunate enough to be located in very close proximity to Piedra Herrada and El Capulín, two of the three sanctuaries on the Estado de México's side of the reserve. The season to visit them begins at the end of November and lasts until March. During these months, you can see millions of Monarch butterflies huddled together in clusters that hang from the trees. The clusters are often large enough to bend the branches.
In February, the butterflies break away from their clusters and begin flying around, looking for food and preparing for their return to Canada. They mate in March, shortly before departing. If you wish to witness this phenomenon, arrive at the sanctuaries very early in the morning, since the concentration of butterflies is highest between 9:00 a.m. and noon.
One of the most popular activities is the hike up to the observation points. It's a 1.5-hour hike uphill so if you'd rather avoid the fatigue, feel free to rent a horse. You can also hire a guided tour to either of the two sanctuaries in Valle de Bravo's town square. The service is also available to travelers staying in cabins in the forest.
The following are some rules set by the sanctuaries in order to ensure that your visit doesn't damage the ecosystem: pictures can only be taken without a flash and you may not smoke, bring pets, touch the butterflies, or make excessive noise.
