Ixtenco

History

The Otomi were the first to settle this area, arriving in waves; the last came in the 14th century, fleeing the rise of the Aztec Empire in the valleys of Mexico and Toluca. Around Ixtenco and Huamantla they remained the main population but lived as vassals of Tlaxcala, receiving land in exchange for military service, which is why the town's name is Nahuatl, meaning at the water's edge. These Otomi were among the first to fight Hernán Cortés and, once defeated, joined him against the Aztecs.

Franciscan friars reached the area in 1529. The town's founding is given as January 8, 1532, although a copy of the royal decree of Charles V says 1534. Thanks to Tlaxcala's alliance with Spain, Ixtenco was spared the encomienda system, and Spaniards could acquire land only by purchase, which is how the first haciendas were assembled. Old beliefs lingered: in 1665 Juan Coátl, a native priest who held ceremonies at a spring in a mountain cave, was denounced and hanged with his followers.

Through the colonial period Ixtenco was governed from Huamantla. The town was formally enlarged in 1695 and 1699, and by the mid 18th century two ranches and four haciendas operated nearby. Its relative isolation helped it remain the Otomi community it is today.