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    Acatlán

    Hidalgo › Huasca de Ocampo

    Acatlán

    Photo by Thelmadatter, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Town 17 km east of Huasca de Ocampo

    Village near Tulancingo with a 16th-century Augustinian convent and a cheese fair where they make a giant Oaxaca cheese.

    Acatlán is a small village in the Tulancingo valley, about 10 kilometers from the city of Tulancingo, whose name means "beside the reeds" in Nahuatl. It was a tributary town of the Mexica before the Spanish conquest, and in 1544 Augustinian friars began building the convent of San Miguel Arcángel here, finishing it by around 1569.

    The convent is the reason to come. Its church has a plain, sober facade crowned by a small bell gable, and the atrium keeps a large stone cross and three of its four corner chapels, a rare survival. Inside the monastery, a small patio is framed by two levels of round arches; part of the upper cloister has collapsed, which gives the building a weathered, unrestored feel. During the Revolution, troops used the cloister as barracks and kitchen.

    Today Acatlán is better known around the region for cheese. Local dairies produce Oaxaca string cheese, panela, cotija and queso fresco, and since 2012 the town has held a cheese fair where producers make a giant Oaxaca cheese, which has weighed more than a ton. The Expo Acatlán and the feast of San Miguel Arcángel fill the town in the second half of September.

    What to see and do

    See the convent of San Miguel Arcángel, with its atrial cross and three surviving corner chapels.
    Walk the small cloister with its two levels of arches.
    Buy Oaxaca cheese, panela or cotija from local producers.
    Come in late September for the Expo Acatlán and the feast of San Miguel.

    Getting there

    From Huasca, take the road east toward Tulancingo; Acatlán sits just off it before you reach the city, roughly 30–40 minutes by car. Buses and colectivos between Tulancingo and Huasca or Pachuca pass nearby; ask the driver for Acatlán.

    17 km east of Huasca de Ocampo

    Directions from Huasca de Ocampo on Google Maps

    Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.

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    Weather cool

    Acatlán shares the climate of Huasca de Ocampo, 17 km away. The best months to visit are Jan, Feb, Mar, Dec.

    See the month-by-month climate of Huasca de Ocampo

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    Hidalgo Huasca de Ocampo

    Acatlán is an easy trip from Huasca de Ocampo, a Pueblo Mágico with places to stay, food, and more to see.

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    More around Huasca de Ocampo

    Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.