Tlaltenango

Tlaltenango is the seat of one of the smallest municipalities in the Puebla valley: barely 21 km², nearly all farmland, between Huejotzingo, Juan C. Bonilla, San Miguel Xoxtla and the state of Tlaxcala. The town had 7,084 people in 2020 and stands at about 2,200 m, 7 km from Huejotzingo and some 21 km from central Puebla, in the Puebla–Tlaxcala metropolitan area.

Chichimec, Nahua and Acolhua groups settled the area, and the municipality gives 1527 as its founding date, shortly after the Conquest. In 1750 it fell under the church jurisdiction of Cholula, in the 19th century it belonged to the Cholula district, and in 1895 it became a free municipality. San Francisco Ocotlán and San Miguel Xoxtla are said to have once been part of its territory. Its parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter the Apostle.

The land is flat and agricultural: over 80% of the municipality is farmed and the rest is now built up. The climate is mild, averaging 14 to 16 °C with 800 to 1,000 mm of summer rain, and its streams drain to the Atoyac. Bricks and roof tiles are made here. Women once wore a white blouse, navy skirt, rebozo and palm hat, and men cotton trousers and shirt, a wool gabán and leather-strap sandals. On the table: mole poblano, tamales and pipián, with cider, atole, champurrado and pulque.