Zona Arqueológica de Tecoaque

Just across the state line in Tlaxcala, near Calpulalpan, Tecoaque is a modest-looking archaeological site with one of the most startling stories of the Spanish Conquest. The town was originally called Zultépec, "quail hill," and belonged to the Acolhua, the people of Texcoco and one of the partners of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Its centerpiece is a round, stepped temple to Ehécatl, the wind god, with a stairway facing east, surrounded by platforms, houses and a plaza.

In 1520, as relations between Cortés and the Aztecs collapsed, a slow Spanish supply caravan heading for Tenochtitlan was captured here. Excavations led by INAH found the remains of several hundred people, Spaniards along with the Indigenous and African people traveling with them, who were held and sacrificed over a period of months. When Cortés learned what had happened he sent troops to destroy the town, which afterwards became known as Tecoaque, a Nahuatl name usually translated as "where they ate people." Later research also documented the women and children of the town who died in that reprisal.

The site is small and usually quiet, so it helps to know the story before you walk it. It sits on UNESCO's tentative list for World Heritage, and it makes a thoughtful counterpoint to the scale of nearby Teotihuacan.