In pre-Columbian times, the area was occupied by the Olmecs, who built an extensive tunnel network through the mountains, and left the cave paintings in the caverns of Juxtlahuaca. The city of Chilpancingo was founded on November 1, 1591, by the Spanish conquistadores, its name meaning “Place of Wasps” in Nahuatl. During the War of Independence, Chilpancingo was crucial to the insurgent cause as its population participated actively and decisively in their favor, and became a strategic point for military action in the south. Chilpancingo was very important to Mexican history because it was here where the National Congress met under José María Morelos y Pavón in 1813 during the Mexican War of Independence.