Asunción Nochixtlán

Asunción Nochixtlán (Nahuatl Nōchiztlān or Place of the Cochineal) is a town and municipality in Oaxaca in south-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 820.35 km². It is part of the Nochixtlán District in the southeast of the Mixteca Region. Nochixtlan’s neighboring villages are: San Andrés Nuxiño, San Andrés Sinaxtla and San Juan Sayultepec. The settlement, originally called Neochixtlán, was founded in 909 as a Mixtec military zone, by a ruler named Ndazahuidandaa. Between the years 1521-1522 the town suffered different epidemics (cholera, measles, smallpox, and plague). This caused the abandonment of the area. The new Nochixtlán was founded by Francisco Orozco on 1527. The economic activity of Nochixtlán is based on the agricultural, ranching and commerce activities. As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 14,676. The 16th-century church, Santa María de la Asunción, is notable for a number of fine colonial-era santos (statues of the saints).