Zempoala

Twenty waters. That is what Zempoala means, from cempoalli, twenty, and atl, water, plus the locative co; according to the explanation in its Wikipedia article, the number is not literal but a way of saying that wells are plentiful in this part of the sierra. Water does define the place: INEGI's compendium for Chiconcuautla lists a Zempoala River among the streams that flow all year. The village sits at about 1,494 metres and had 1,676 residents in 2020.

Chiconcuautla, the municipality it belongs to, was founded by Otomí people; it later paid tribute to Texcoco and in 1522 came under Spanish rule. By the mid-18th century it answered to Huauchinango in church matters, and it has been a free municipality since 1895. During the Revolution, in 1911, it served as headquarters of the Francisco I. Madero Brigade, which set up a workshop there to strike copper coins and a die press for making weapons. The municipality covers about 113.5 km² and borders Tlaola, Zacatlán, Tlapacoya and Ahuacatlán.

The climate is split almost evenly between temperate humid and warm humid, both with rain in every season: 1,400 to 2,100 mm fall each year and averages range from 12 to 22 degrees. Nearly half the territory is still forest. Farmers grow maize, beans, coffee, avocado, tomato and serrano chile, and raise livestock. Nahuatl and Totonac are among the languages spoken in the municipality; people make pottery and wicker, and the table brings broth, fava-bean tamales, smoked and pressed chicken, mountain coffee and yolixpa liqueur.