Emiliano Zapata dominates the identity of Cuautla more completely than any other figure dominates any other Mexican city. He was born in the village of Anenecuilco, a few kilometers away, died at the hacienda of Chinameca, and was carried here for burial. The bronze monument in the central plaza shows him on horseback, larger than life, and it is the first thing most visitors photograph. Whether or not you knew much about Zapata before arriving, by the time you leave Cuautla you will have a clear sense of why he matters.
The city's official full name — La Heroica e Histórica Cuautla — refers to two separate military episodes: the 1812 Siege of Cuautla, during the War of Independence, when the priest-general José María Morelos held the city for 72 days against Royalist forces before breaking through the encirclement, and the 1911 Battle of Cuautla, in the early days of the Revolution, when Zapata's forces took the city in a victory that showed the federal army was not unbeatable. History stacks up in this place.