Papatlazolco

Papatlazolco is one of the 26 juntas auxiliares of the municipality of Huauchinango, in Puebla's Sierra Norte. It lies in the centre-east of the municipal territory at roughly 1,300 metres above sea level, and its name is Nahuatl, a language still spoken by about 24,600 people in the municipality. The 2020 census counted 2,276 residents, 1,198 women and 1,078 men.

Water is what places it on the map. To the north, next to Tenango de las Flores, lies the Tenango reservoir, where people go out in rowboats and where scenes of the 1957 film Tizoc, one of Pedro Infante's last, were shot. To the south, already inside Tlaola municipality, sits the Nexapa reservoir. Papatlazolco occupies the ridge country between the two, and a river that carries the village's name runs through it; photographs of it are on Wikimedia Commons.

The surroundings are wet mountain country: the municipality climbs from about 600 up to 2,700 metres, so vegetation and temperature change within a few kilometres. The municipal seat, Huauchinango, lies about 6 km away as the crow flies. Come unhurried, prepared to wander mountain lanes and look over the reservoirs rather than expecting a single headline monument.