Atlacahualoya

The name Atlacahualoya comes from Nahuatl: atl (water), tlacahua (to stay or stop) and pan, "place where the water stands still". It is a community in the municipality of Axochiapan, in the far southeast of Morelos, about 4.5 km from the municipal seat and not far from the Puebla state line. In 2020 it had 3,818 residents, making it the third-largest locality in the municipality after Axochiapan (19,085) and Telixtac (5,534), up from 3,100 in 2000.

The best-documented history is religious. In colonial times Atlacahualoyan was one of the towns of the Tlanahua region within the Marquesado del Valle. The parish of San Miguel Atlacahualoyan was established in 1810, with Axochiapan as one of its visitas; when Axochiapan became a municipality in 1898 the parish seat gradually moved there, and by 1920 it was fully in Axochiapan.

The surroundings are farmland. The municipality has a warm climate averaging 22 to 24 °C and a little under 1,000 mm of rain, mostly June to September. Irrigation comes from the Carros and Cayehuacán dams and about 45 deep wells; gypsum is the most important natural resource, and an estimated 30 to 35 percent of the population emigrates to the United States for lack of jobs. Visitors will find a working village rather than a tourist destination: no published information exists on hotels or sights in the village itself.

Within the same municipality, some 5 to 7 km away, are the Axochiapan lagoon and the village of Quebrantadero, with its parish of San José.