Tixtla de Guerrero

Tixtla de Guerrero is a small city in a valley about 20 km east of Chilpancingo, on the highway towards Chilapa. Its name comes from Nahuatl and is variously read as 'maize dough', 'our valley' or 'temple by the water'. Tixtla is the birthplace of three of Guerrero's best-known figures: Vicente Guerrero (1782–1831), the independence leader who became president of Mexico and gave his name to both the town and the state; Antonia Nava de Catalán, a heroine of the War of Independence; and the writer and teacher Ignacio Manuel Altamirano (1834–1893).

During the War of Independence the town changed hands between insurgents and royalists; Morelos took it in 1811 and the royalists won it back three years later. It was raised to the rank of city in 1824, and when Guerrero state was created it served as the capital, where the first state constitution was promulgated on 14 June 1851, until the seat of government moved to Chilpancingo in 1871. In the central garden in front of the parish church stands a bronze statue of Vicente Guerrero holding the remains of Hidalgo's banner to his chest, a copy of the 1865 sculpture by Miguel Noreña. It was given by Joaquina Catalán de Jiménez, brought by train to Mezcala and then by ox cart over the hills, and unveiled on 14 February 1906, the anniversary of Guerrero's death. Inside the old town-hall building, murals painted from 1984 by Jaime Antonio del Payán tell the history of Tixtla, the state and the country.

Tixtla is a town of fiestas. For the Day of the Dead, from the night of 31 October, each barrio sets up handmade arches along the main street to the cemetery, decorated with maize, beans, velvet flowers, cempasúchil and pottery from the local potters, and dancers of the Tlacololeros, Moros, Chinelos, Diablos and Manueles go from the barrio to the graves, dancing sones de tarima and toasting with mezcal. The feasts of the Virgen de la Natividad, on 31 May and 8 September, start nine days before with parades of dances led by the mayordomos carrying candles. North of town, Los Tepoltzis is a hilltop ceremonial centre occupied from about AD 200 to 1200, with six mounds, four plazas and two patios.