Hacienda Soltepec

Hacienda San Francisco Soltepec stands on a low rise just south of Huamantla, on the road toward Ixtenco and Puebla. It was founded in 1712 to grow maguey and make pulque, and in its heyday it was one of the big pulque producers of the Tlaxcala plains, sending barrels of the fermented drink to market along with grain and livestock from its fields. After the Revolution, when the large estates were broken up, the buildings were used for a time as a school for training rural teachers.

The hacienda has a second claim to fame: it served as a location for La Escondida, the 1956 Revolution drama directed by Roberto Gavaldón with María Félix and Pedro Armendáriz, filmed in Tlaxcala and shown at Cannes. For years the property was even known by the film's name. The thick walls, the towers and the wide courtyards still look like a movie set, especially in the late afternoon light.

Today Soltepec is a hotel and restaurant, and you don't have to stay the night to see it. The old tinacal, the room where pulque was fermented in large vats, now holds a small pulque museum, and the restaurant serves Tlaxcala cooking, including lamb dishes and wild mushrooms in season. It makes an easy stop on the way between Huamantla and Ixtenco.