Teotitlán de Flores Magón

Teotitlán de Flores Magón is the gateway to the Cañada Oaxaqueña, in the north of the state almost on the border with Puebla, at about 1,015 metres. Its Nahuatl name, "between the houses of God", carried the suffix "del Camino" for centuries because it lay on the traditional route to Tehuacán, Puebla and Mexico City. A 1581 document describes a pre-Hispanic town of more than a thousand people that governed itself as an independent republic and was allied with Moctezuma. In the 19th century, as the first Oaxacan town on that road, it served several times as the state's first line of defence.

The Flores Magón brothers came from here: Jesús (born 1871) and Enrique (1877); their brother Ricardo was born in nearby San Antonio Eloxochitlán. They opposed Porfirio Díaz and are considered precursors of the Mexican Revolution. In 1977 the Oaxaca congress renamed the town in their honour. The climate is hot and dry, up to about 40 °C, with rain in July and August, and the town lies in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán biosphere reserve.

The main fiesta is on 29 September for Saint Michael the Archangel, with calendas, a band and a parade of the flower-decked bull (toro enflorado); a novena with pilgrimages has been held since 1990. The jarabe teotiteco, a set of dances including the indito, the torito and the teotiteca divina, is the town's own music. On the table, look for tesmole, a spicy broth of vegetables, meat and small masa dumplings, plus atoles, nicuatole and seasonal edible insects such as chicatanas and pochocuiles.

It is a regional trading centre: the market and shops serve nearby communities, and farming of maize, beans, squash, chile and papaya supports much of the population. In 2010 the town had 7,598 residents.