San Juan Teposcolula

San Juan Teposcolula sits in the Mixteca Alta at about 2,300 metres above sea level and is the seat of a municipality of only 57 square kilometres. Do not confuse it with San Pedro y San Pablo Teposcolula, the Pueblo Mágico with the big Dominican convent: they are two separate, neighbouring municipalities, and the latter borders this one to the south and east. Before it carried its present name the village was known as San Juan Itnuyana, and the current settlement dates from 1561. The Nahuatl name is usually rendered as "beside the bend of copper".

It is a small place that has been emptying slowly: the 1930 census counted 1,522 people, 1995 only 382 and 2020 some 452. The whole municipality has about 1,494 residents in 17 localities; after the seat, the largest are San Miguel Marcos Pérez (275) and Refugio de Morelos (186). People live mainly from farming with some livestock, plus forestry and mezcal.

What you notice at the entrance and in the centre is the church of San Juan, with a pale stone facade. To the north the municipality borders Villa Tejupam de la Unión and Santo Domingo Tonaltepec, and to the south San Bartolo Soyaltepec, so the village sits in the heart of the Mixteca Alta, a few kilometres from Teposcolula.

We found no hotels or tourist services in the village. It works best as a short stop, with a base in Teposcolula or Nochixtlán.