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"Bienvenido" en Cuernavaca, Mexico (City of Eternal Spring)

500'000 inhabitants, 1542 m above Sea Level

The capital of the state of Morelos is located 1542 meters (5060 feet) above sea level and 84 km (52 miles) south of Mexico City.

Ever since the Habsburg Emperor Maximilian built his summer residence in Cuernavaca, it has been a famous vacation place among Mexicans mainly for its warm climate throughout the year (average temperature of 20ºC/68ºF). Today, Cuernavaca's "eternal spring", its parks and gardens resplendent with tropical plants and flowers, its charming center with colonial architecture still attract Mexicans and foreign tourists from all over the world. Because of its geographical position, Cuernavaca is also an ideal starting point for interesting trips in Central Mexico.

Among the important historical and architectural attractions are the 16th century Cathedral, the Hernán Cortés Palace with famous murals of Diego Rivera, the Borda gardens and the richly adorned Aztec temple Teopanzolco. In the city center, the Zócalo, mixes native and foreign visitors with street cafes, numerous restaurants and coffeehouses allowing you to spend tranquil moments in the busy center.

Cuernavaca is a university town and the home of many artists and intellectuals and thus many cultural events have increasingly taken place in recent years, poetry readings, concerts, ballet and theatre performances and art exhibitions. You can also enjoy the discotheques and music bars until the early hours of the morning.

Diverse sporting activities attract fans of tennis, golf, volleyball, squash, swimming and horseback riding.

Cuernavaca is capital of the state of Morelos, about 90 minutes from Mexico City, famous for its spring-like climate and lush vegetation year-round. Since Ivan Illych founded CIDOC (Centro Intercultural de Documentación) in 1960, Cuernavaca has been a center of Spanish language study in which several schools have evolved over the years. The aim of CIDOC was to provide an immersion language experience for missionaries headed for Latin American countries, and was so successful that it soon attracted a secular student body.

The schools that followed have continued to offer classes modeled after Illych's example with varying degrees of authenticity. They employed an eclectic collection of methods that include stimulation-response drills, dialog memorization, grammar exercises, and cognitive approaches such as "the Silent Way" and they attract a wide spectrum of clientele including university and high school students as well as professionals, tourists, and people thinking about about retiring in Mexico, although each school offers special courses to meet the needs of those professional sectors which most obviously require Spanish (including medical personnel, priests, lawyers, teachers, and more recently, business people).

Cuernavaca is a lively and stimulating town and an ideal place for all those who want to learn Spanish and experience the complete Mexican culture.