THE VIRGIN OF REMEDIES AND THE HILL OF OTOMCAPULCO IN TOTOLTEPEC

Evening of June 30: 505nd Anniversary of the arrival of the Image of Our Lady of Remedies to Naucalpan, amidst the tragic flight of "The Sad Night."

After the chaos caused during Cortés' absence from the Great Tenochtitlan, the natives became very angry with Emperor Moctezuma II for various reasons, one of them being for having allowed the Spanish to place the Image of Our Lady of Remedies atop the Templo Mayor.

Following the death of Moctezuma II and the growing hatred of the natives toward the Spanish, on the night of June 30 to July 1, 1520, the Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés fled the city of Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire.  But not before collecting the image that presided over the Templo Mayor, the patron saint of the Conquest, which had remained intact despite the attacks of the Mexica seeking its destruction.

Many of the Spaniards only attempted to flee, because the indigenous warriors caught up with them and offered their blood to their false gods. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, author of the "True History of the Conquest of New Spain," a soldier present at that event, estimates that around 600 of his comrades died.

Cortés and his men fled at midnight on June 30, 1520. Cortés gave the signal to depart, and under orders of silence, they marched across a canoe bridge toward Tlacopan (Tacuba). Before reaching the causeways leading out of the Aztec city, they were observed by Aztec warriors, who sounded the alarm warning of the Spanish escape.  As the Spanish and their allies reached the causeways, hundreds of canoes appeared in the waters alongside the Aztec warriors.

The Spanish and their native allies fought their way out in the rain against countless arrows, using portable bridges to bridge the gaps.  It is said that during the battle, the natives suddenly saw a bearded man mounted on a white steed flashing with a distinctive light, shielding the Spaniards from fleeing (some say it was the apostle Saint James, known as "Santiago Matindios"); but they also saw a Lady with a Child in her arms, both with delicate faces, who threw dirt in the eyes of the natives so they would lose track of the Spaniards (here it is believed that it was the Virgin of Remedies).

Upon reaching the territory of Tacuba, they entered the area of ​​Totoltepec, where the Otomi Indians, tired of being dominated and enslaved by the Mexica empire, supported Cortés and his men, providing them with provisions and treating their wounds so they could later resume their journey.

Tradition tells us that upon arriving at Totoltepec, Cortés sat at the foot of an ahuehuete tree to mourn his defeat.  The image of the Virgin of Remedies, and feeling helpless over his failure, Cortés, fearing that the Blessed Image would be desecrated, ordered Captain Juan Rodríguez de Villafuerte (the soldier who brought the Virgin) to hide her at the top of a grove on Otomcapulco Hill. There was no safer place than the hollow of a maguey tree at the top of Otomcapulco Hill (today Los Remedios), where the indigenous chief of Totoltepec, Don Juan Ce Cuautli, found her in 1540.

It seems strange to think that after the battle of the "Noche Triste," the Spanish Conquistador and General Hernán Cortés stayed to mourn his defeat in the tree located in Popotla (for let us remember that the Aztec dominions extended even beyond those lands), as most people think. Therefore, it is more likely that this resting place took place in Totoltepec, since  It was an Otomi domain.

It is worth noting that the aforementioned Ahuehuete de Totoltepec is still standing, making it one of the oldest trees preserved in the town.

Author: Eduardo Baltazar Martínez.