Acuitzio del Canje, Michoacán

Acuitzio del Canje is a town in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Acuitzio. The area was originally settled in pre-Hispanic times. By 1620, it was a community of 20 families, with a hospital. In the early years of Mexican independence, an ayuntamiento was established there. "Acuitzio" is a word of Tarascan origin that means "place of snakes". The epithet "del Canje" (literally: "of the exchange") refers to an exchange of prisoners of war that took place in the town on 5 December 1865, during the French Intervention. On 16 December 1901, the State Congress enacted legislation for Acuitzio's name to be changed to Acuitzio del Canje.