Mariano Matamoros

The locality of Mariano Matamoros, in the municipality of Ayala, is named for the insurgent priest Mariano Matamoros y Guridi, born in Mexico City in 1770. Morelos made him lieutenant general during the siege of Cuautla in 1812, which lasted from 9 February to 2 May; it was Matamoros who broke out one night to join Miguel Bravo. He was captured at Puruarán in early 1814 and shot at Valladolid, Michoacán, on 3 February of that year. The name is common across Mexico, and this village should not be confused with the colonia of the same name in Cuautla city or the unidad in Xochitepec.

It is a small and recent settlement. INEGI does not list it before 1990, when it had 149 people; there were 611 in 2000, 1,056 in 2010 and 1,069 in 2020, at about 1,432 metres above sea level. Growth has levelled off in the last decade.

Other small settlements surround it: the hamlets of Tenayo Grande (1.7 km south) and Tenayo Chico (2.5 km), Tencuancoalco (2.2 km south-west), and the housing estates Prados del Sol and El Venadito, about 1 km away. El Tenayo is also one of the hills named in Ayala's municipal profile. Further out are Tlayecac, Xalostoc and Jaloxtoc.

There are no tourist sights in the village, and We found no registered hotels or restaurants. It works as a countryside stop for anyone exploring rural Ayala, the Zapatista heartland, before heading back to Cuautla.