Naucalpan claims to be the area where Hernán Cortés rested on the "Noche Triste" as they fled Tenochtitlan in 1520, but this is disputed.

[2] The history of Naucalpan begins with a group called the Tlatilca who settled on the edges of the Hondo River between 1700 and 600 BCE,[3] in what is now modern Nacaulpan, Totolinga and Los Cuartos.

Starting from 1428, the area was under the dominion of Tepanece de Atzcapotzalco, which was later conquered by the Aztec Triple Alliance,[2] who gave it the name of Naucalpan.

Another legend states that during the flight of the Spanish, an image of the Virgin Mary was left under a maguey plant, where the Sanctuary of Los Remedios is today.

Hernán Cortés conceded governorship of this area to Isabel Moctezuma and Alonso de Grado, naming it San Bartholome Naucalpan.

One of the writers for this paper was José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, popularly known as "El Pensador Mexicano" (The Mexican Thinker) .

Industrialization began here with the founding of the Hilados and Tejidos de Rio Hondo factory, inaugurated by Benito Juarez in 1869.

During the Mexican Revolution, Zapatista leaders Rafael Carrillo and Roman Diaz operated in the nearby Chimalpa mountains against federal forces.

In addition, many small businesses such as brick making operations, public restrooms and restaurants flagrantly violate sanitation and environmental laws.

[11] Stronger environmental regulations have been enacted and enforced, but this has led to the abandonment of the municipality by larger industries who have relocated to the north and west.

In addition to environmental regulation, other actors behind this rising land and rental prices, economic slowdown and competition from Asia.

It was designed to be a suburban community with a "green corridor" (highway lined by parks) connecting it to Mexico City proper.

Attractive land prices created a boom market soon after the first units were sold in the mid 1960s, and over the next ten years, the green corridor disappeared.

[3] The Torres de Satélite were constructed by architects Luis Barragan and Matias Goeritz with the collaboration of painter Jesús Reyes Ferreira in the mid 20th century.

At the Toreo itself, fifteen local bus routes as well as buses to Toluca and other points west converge here.

[5] The domed roof of this bullring was a symbol of the city for many years, but in 2009, the demolition of this building began to make way for a commercial complex.

[8] In addition to Ciudad Satélite and the Toreo, other attractions here include the Cerro Moctezuma, the Villa Alpina, the Conde y Tlatilco Pyramid, a Mexica shrine in the city center and the Museum of Naucalpan.

Historic structures from the colonial period include the Caracoles, the Aqueduct, the Bridge of Santa Cruz, the arches of the Sanctuary of Los Remedos, the Parish of San Luis Tlatilco.

[24] The Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México has plans to build a campus here in 2010 as part of its expansion efforts.

This image is strongly linked with the Spanish Conquest, especially the episode known as the "Noche Triste" or Night of Sorrows.

According to legend, one of Cortés’ soldiers, Gonzalo Rodríguez de Villafuerte, was carrying a small image of the Virgin Mary and hid her under one of the maguey plants in order to retrieve and pay homage to her later if he survived.

Another legend states that this image appeared at the Cerro de los Pajaros, where a chapel was built in 1574, which later was expanded in 1628 with a vaulted roof and cupola.

[2] This sanctuary is not located in the city proper, but in the mountainous western part of the municipality where the Los Remedios National Park stands.

Vegetation outside the city proper consists of conifers and oaks, with orchards of fruit trees such as plums, apples and pears.

Agricultural production includes animal feed, barley, beans, corn, wheat, avocados, peaches and cactus fruit.

[6] Within its borders is the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Los Remedios, a colonial era aqueduct and a pre-Hispanic archeological zone with a Chichimeca temple.

The first stage was built in 1616 under viceroy Diego Fernandez de Cordoba with the objective of bringing water to the Sanctuary of Los Remedios from a spring at the village of San Francisco Chimalpa.

The federal environmental agency Profepa has received complaints about the most recent invasions into the park area, which as felled dozens of trees.

The agency has responded with inspections of plans by a developer to build two subdivisions near the colonial era aqueduct to verify if the land is private or public.

[28] This and the fact that housing is now starting to encroach the archeological zone has prompted the involvement of INAH and the organization of neighboring communities to protest.