Ixtapan de la Sal

History

The name comes from Nahuatl and means on the salt, a nod to the mineral springs and salt flats that have defined the place since pre-Hispanic times. The area was inhabited by Matlatzinca groups, and mounds and surface pottery have been found at several spots in the municipality, along with fossil remains of Pleistocene animals.

Spaniards settled here soon after the Conquest. The parish church is counted among the early churches of New Spain; accounts date it to 1531, with later work in the 17th century. Its Plateresque doorway and an atrium wall topped with battlements give it the look of a small fortress. Inside is the Señor del Perdón, a Christ made of cane paste that draws pilgrimages from towns across the state every second Friday of Lent.

The warm climate and the hot springs, long credited with healing properties, are what turned a quiet provincial town into a resort of bathhouses, hotels and a water park. Each August 10 the town also remembers its Mártires de Ixtapan with a ceremony and parade ending at their monument in the main garden. Ixtapan de la Sal was named a Pueblo Mágico on September 25, 2015.