title: Izúcar de Matamoros
text: # Izúcar de Matamoros
  
  Izúcar de Matamoros is a city in Izúcar de Matamoros Municipality located in the southwestern part of the Mexican state of Puebla. The city serves as the municipal seat of the municipality. At the census of 2005 the city had a population of 41,042 inhabitants, while the municipality had a population of 69,413. The municipality has an area of 514.11 km² (198.5 sq mi), and stands at 1100 m above sea level. Its largest other communities are the towns of La Galarza and San Juan Raboso. It has many sights like the portales, and Santo Domingo, the biggest church in the city.
  
  ## History
  
  Izúcar de Matamoros derives its name from the Náhuatl word Itzocan, which is composed from itztli, meaning "knife" or "flint," ohtli meaning "path," and -can. Therefore, it means "place of the flint path." Other interpretations suggest that it could mean "place of painted faces," or "place of obsidian" or "place where obsidian is worked."
  
  Izúcar de Matamoros was the site of the Mexican American War Skirmish at Matamoros on 23 November 1847.
  
  The epicenter of the 2017 Puebla earthquake was about 6.0 km (3.7 mi) east of the city center.
  
  ## Agriculture
  
  The agriculture of the surrounding countryside is devoted to growing sugar cane which is processed at a plant in Atencingo.
  
  ## Notable people
  
  * Alfonso Castillo Orta (1944-2009), potter
  * Ángel Maturino Reséndiz (1959-2006), serial killer
  * Paulina Ana María Zapata Portillo (1915-2010), suffragist
  