Altavista

Altavista is a small place, 462 people in 2020, in the municipality of San Felipe Xochiltepec in south-western Puebla. It sits at about 1,340 m, the municipality's average height, some 31 km from Atlixco. From above it appears among patches of dry forest and fields.

Xochiltepec means "on the flowering hill", from xochitl, flower, tepetl, hill, and co, on. It is a small municipality, about 47 km² between 1,320 and 1,700 m, created in 1895, bordering San Diego La Mesa Tochimiltzingo, Teopantlán, Ahuatlán, Epatlán, San Martín Totoltepec and Tepeojuma. The climate is warm and sub-humid: the yearly average is 20 to 22 °C and highs reach 32 to 34 °C. Rain totals 800 to 1,000 mm, and dry tropical forest still covers about 60% of the land; most of the rest is farmland, with some reed marsh in wet spots. Water drains to the Nexapa and Atoyac rivers, in the Balsas basin.

In the seat, the parish church and its priest's house, built between 1506 and 1519, hold images of Saint Philip and Saint Luke; the Calvario church is dedicated to the Señor de Tepalcingo and the bandstand in the park dates from 1906. People in the municipality make clay pots, casseroles and planters and prepare corn husks for tamales. On the table: mole, pipián, adobo, huaxmole, chicken chileatole and country bread.