Cerro de las Ventanas

Cerro de las Ventanas, also called the Peñol de Juchipila, is an archaeological site on a steep hill above the village of El Remolino, about five kilometers south of Juchipila in the canyon west of Nochistlán. Its name, "hill of the windows," comes from the stone rooms built into a sheer cliff near the top, whose openings you can see from the highway below.

People lived on and around the hill from the first centuries AD, and most of the buildings date to the Late Classic and Postclassic periods. In the 13th century the Caxcanes moved into the canyon, and they turned the hill into one of the most heavily fortified sites in ancient Mexico: the citadel sits above cliffs and could only be reached by a narrow, switchbacking stairway, with a settlement of more than 25 hectares spread below.

The Caxcanes of this canyon, together with those of Nochistlán, led the resistance against the Spanish in the 1530s, which ended with the Mixtón War of 1540 to 1542. Today the site is run by INAH, and a walking circuit of about two kilometers takes you up through its sectors to wide views over the canyon.