San Juan Ixcaquixtla

San Juan Ixcaquixtla is the seat of the municipality of Ixcaquixtla in southern Puebla, about 108 km from the capital by road. The town stands at about 1,900 m and had 5,202 people in 2020; the municipality, about 173 km², had 8,804 in 2020 and lives from farming and trade. It borders Tepexi de Rodríguez, Juan N. Méndez and Coyotepec.

The name has several explanations. Tradition says it comes from ixcaqui, "hey, come here", because the first settler, finding himself alone, called to a passer-by to keep him company. A document of 1520 records it as Yxcaquixtlan, from yxcatl, cotton, and tlan, place: "place where cotton grows", and in Popoloca as Quachju Xuhhchuah, "place of many ponds". Cotton still grows wild in some spots.

The town keeps a remarkable heritage for its size: the 17th-century Churrigueresque parish church of San Juan Bautista; the Troje, where the valley's grain was stored; the late-18th-century Casa de Altos on the main square; the French-style Casa Porfiriana beside the town hall; 18th-century mansions with long corridors and tall limestone walls; the 16th-century chapel of La Soledad; the old railway station on the royal road to Atenayuca; and the Jagüey Colorado, a pre-Hispanic water tank. Nearby is the former hacienda of El Barragán, founded by the Jesuits in the 17th century. The main festival is Saint John the Baptist on 24 June, and on 12 December the town holds the Noche del Maíz, the Night of Maize, with cultural events.