Santa Rita Tlahuapan

Santa Rita Tlahuapan is the seat of the municipality of Tlahuapan in western Puebla, at about 2,500 m, with 9,755 inhabitants. The name comes from Tlalliahuatlpan, "in the land of oaks", and the glyph of its founding is an oak tree. It lives from farming and livestock, with one curiosity: grapes are grown here for Puebla's red wine, and the state's first vineyards started in Tlahuapan. The climate is mild.

The royal road from Puebla to Mexico City passed through here, and from 1531 the records mention ventas, inns for travellers and pack animals, such as the one at Tejaque or Texmelucan, about eight leagues from Puebla. It stood on the edge of the Tejac ravine, today the Barranca del Emperador, through which runs one of the streams that form the Atoyac River, near today's La Venta ranch beside federal highway 190. The depth of the ravine meant bridges were needed from colonial times; the one that survives was built in 1837 and is called the Puente del Emperador because Maximilian crossed it on his way to Mexico City. Families who have lived at the Venta del Puente for generations still tell of the stir the emperors caused.

The area had its heyday in the mid-20th century, with a popular bathing resort near the bridge. During the Revolution Tlahuapan had a barracks, attacked in February 1915.