Thanks to citizen pressure over the last decade, urban cycling is promoted and the agreement signed with the United Nations Organization for the use and respect of the bicycle as a sustainable means of mass transportation.

Its altitude favors the practice of high-performance sports, but as it is one of the most polluted cities in the country due to the emissions of its industrial corridor and the poor motorized public transportation of the last 3 years, outdoor exercise carries some risks for health.

A small Postclassic site was discovered on the hill called Tolochi, which is in the north of the modern city, but the remains seem too insubstantial to have been a major provincial capital.

The tree of "Las Manitas Rojas", which literally means "little red hands", was planted before the Spanish Conquest in what is now the monastery of Nuestra Señora del Carmen.

The most notable figure of this effort is Fray Andrés Castro, from Burgos, the old capital of Castile, by making a great number of improvements to the city and being the first one to learn the native Matlatzincan language.

[8] In 1810, at the beginning of the independence movement, Miguel Hidalgo stayed in Toluca for a few days on his way to the Battle of Monte de las Cruces.

Mariano Riva Palacio was named governor of the state and he started the most important modernization process of the city in the 19th century.

[9] Toluca's climate is the coolest of any large Mexican city due to its altitude (2,680 metres or 8,790 feet above sea level).

Just outside the heavily industrialized city, the municipality has forests with oak, pine, fir, cedar, cypress and other flora, characteristic of the temperate zone of central Mexico.

In colonial times, Toluca first gained economic importance as a producer of smoked and cured meats, especially chorizo sausage.

[18] Its geographic position in the center of the country and proximity to Mexico City as well as its well-developed infrastructure, have allowed Toluca to grow into a major industrial zone for the state.

Livestock raising is a greater source of income with 10,286 sites producing cattle, pigs, sheep and domestic fowl.

Toluca has become an important economic city because of its industries and infrastructure that produce drinks, food, textiles, cars, electric products and such.

[22] Other companies located here or that have industrial parks in Toluca are BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Coca-Cola, Femsa, Grupo Bimbo, Nissan, Nestlé, Pfizer, Bayer, Crisa, Barcel, Knorr, Trelleborg Automotive, and HSBC.

It will permit easier access to the airport as well as a bypass route for traffic heading from Mexico City to the west and northwest.

This airport has started a development initiative of the Federal and State Governments, as well as the private sector, which provided an investment of almost 3,200 million U.S. dollars in the last 2 years.

Since Toluca is the capital of the State of Mexico, there are several diverse and important educational centers such as the state-funded public university, the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (UAEM).

Insurgent commander José Maria Oviedo was faced with the royalist army of Rosendo Porlier, who succeeded in driving the rebels northward to Toluca.

The sacristy was built by Felipe de Ureña and José Rivera and is essentially a reproduction of the Santa María del Puerto hermitage in Madrid and is one of the few remaining buildings of the old monastery.

However, in 1870, Ramon Rodriguez Arangoiti redesigned the cathedral, based on his experience with old Roman basilicas although the present-day building still contains a number of the elements of the original design such as the aisle that runs parallel to the façade serving as a narthex, allowing access to the central and two side naves.

The second part rises above the main doors with three columned areas containing balconies, stained-glass windows and balustrades, terminating in a rectilinear pediment with an image of the Ascension of the Lord.

The Cosmovitral is located in a stone and ironwork building in the center of Toluca, designed in 1910 by engineer Manuel Arratia in order to accommodate the "16 de Septiembre" market.

The stained glass ceiling represents the Milky Way and joins the "Hombre Sol" (Sun Man) with the Galaxy of Andromeda.

It has a series of scenes that symbolize man's search of the light, the good and the wisdom to elevate his spirit to liberate him from the shadows of evil and the ignorance in an epic tale without beginning or end.

At the spring equinox, the solar disc crosses the heart of "El hombre Sol" (the sun man), causing an explosion of light.

Although the original plans included two towers, only one was built, containing two hexagonal bodies, pairs of columns and balconies with semicircular rails.

Some of them honor important Mexican artists such as José María Velasco Gómez, Felipe Santiago Gutiérrez, and Luis Nishizawa, among others.

In Toluca the most famous dish is chorizo, a regional sausage made of ground pork and tomato sauce, pumpkin mole, pipian and other ingredients such as salt, pepper, white wine, almonds, potatoes, vinegar, garlic and chile.

The traditional food includes vegetables from the region such as "quelites", "quintoniles", "huazontles", spinach, "verdolagas", carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and so forth.

[8] "Tepache", the popular beverage of fermented pineapple and other fruit, is not native to the Valley of Toluca since this tropical plant does not grow there.