9 Ruins near Tlaxco, Tlaxcala: Map & Photos

9 archaeological sites · within 60 km

There are 9 archaeological sites within 60 km of Tlaxco in a straight line, an hour or a little more by road. The closest is Tepeticpac, 32 km away; the farthest, Tlalancaleca (zona arqueológica), is 55 km. They are listed under the Pueblos Mágicos of Huejotzingo, Otumba, and Zempoala, which make good bases.

Most archaeological sites are run by INAH and open from about 8 or 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a small fee. Midday is the hottest and busiest time, so go early.

Best months, when most of these towns are dry with comfortable afternoons: Jan, Feb, Nov, Dec.

The Ruins 9

Tepeticpac · Archaeological site · 32 km from Tlaxco · Tlaxcala
Pre-Hispanic hilltop fortress above Santiago Tepeticpac, 5 km north of Tlaxcala city: walls, terraces, watchtowers and views over the valley.
Zona Arqueológica de Tizatlán · Archaeological site · 32 km from Tlaxco · Near Huejotzingo
Seat of a Tlaxcalan lordship where the alliance with Cortés was sealed, with painted altars beside a 16th-century open chapel.
Ocotelulco · Archaeological site · 34 km from Tlaxco · Tlaxcala
Temple and painted altar of Maxixcatzin's lordship, with a site museum, in San Francisco Ocotelulco, 3 km from Tlaxcala city. Free entry.
Cacaxtla-Xochitécatl · Archaeological site · 47 km from Tlaxco · Near Huejotzingo
Twin hilltop sites across the Tlaxcala line, famous for vivid Maya-style murals of a battle, preserved under a huge roof.
Los Cerritos de Tepatlaxco · Archaeological site · 48 km from Tlaxco · Puebla
Nine pyramid bases on the rims of ravines on the slopes of Cerro Totolqueme, inhabited from 300 BC to 600 AD, just outside Texmelucan.
Xochitécatl · Archaeological site · 48 km from Tlaxco · Tlaxcala
A ceremonial centre begun about 800 BC on an extinct volcano's summit, with the Pyramid of the Flowers and the round Spiral Building, facing Cacaxtla.
Zona Arqueológica de Xihuingo · Archaeological site · 51 km from Tlaxco · Near Zempoala
A Teotihuacan-era site below Cerro Xihuingo, known for its cliffs of petroglyphs and astronomical dotted crosses.
Zona Arqueológica de Tecoaque · Archaeological site · 53 km from Tlaxco · Near Otumba
A small Acolhua site in Tlaxcala where a Spanish caravan was captured and sacrificed in 1520.
Tlalancaleca (zona arqueológica) · Archaeological site · 55 km from Tlaxco · Puebla
Formative-period city at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, among central Mexico's largest before Teotihuacan; it outlived a Popocatépetl eruption.