San Francisco

San Francisco, dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi, is one of the larger villages of Xiutetelco: it had 3,536 people in 2020 and stands at about 2,010 m, some 9 km from Teziutlán in Puebla's north-eastern sierra.

The municipality's name comes from xiuhtla, grassy place, tetelli, pyramid-shaped heap of stones, and co, in: "pyramids where many herbs grow". And there are pyramids: in the centre of the seat, San Juan Xiutetelco, three survive, two Totonac and one Aztec, and a small community museum holds archaeological pieces recovered in the municipality. The area was occupied by Olmec, Totonac and Aztec groups through the Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic. In colonial times it depended on Teziutlán; it became a free municipality in 1895, and five years later had a boundary dispute with Veracruz. Its town hall, with columns of carved stone, was built on land donated by Eleodoro Pérez.

Xiutetelco, about 145 km², borders Hueytamalco, Teziutlán, Chignautla, Tepeyahualco and Jalacingo in Veracruz. Its sierra, topped by Cerro de la Viola, drops east toward the Gulf plain and south toward the Llanos de San Juan; almost all of it drains to the Nautla River. People here weave woollen sarapes and blankets, make zacatón-grass brushes and fireworks, and hand-carve masks of avocado and cedar wood. They eat mole, pipián, smoked chicken and pressed pork crackling, and the music is played by brass bands.