San Cristóbal Nexquipayac

Only 25 people lived in San Cristóbal Nexquipayac in 2020, making it one of the smallest settlements in Tlahuapan. The hamlet sits at 2,481 metres in the west of the municipality, less than a kilometre from San José, in the corner of Puebla that touches both the State of Mexico and Tlaxcala on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Huejotzingo is 26 kilometres away and Puebla city about 50.

The whole municipality lies in the upper basin of the Atoyac, which rises near the Mexico-Puebla line on the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada. Rivers such as Las Rositas, the Grande, the Chautonco and the Ayotla run west to east across Tlahuapan, along with many streams that flow only in the rainy season. Four in ten hectares of the municipality are forest, and average temperatures range from 8 to 16 degrees, with semi-cold zones on the higher ground.

There are no famous churches or tourist services here: the draw is the mountain landscape and the view of the volcanoes. For food or supplies you go to Santa Rita Tlahuapan, the municipal seat, or to the nearby juntas auxiliares; INEGI notes trout as a local speciality and clay pottery as the craft. In the community of Guadalupe Zaragoza stand the ruins of the former Guadalupito las Dalias hacienda.