Town Contla de Juan Cuamatzi, Tlaxcala Municipality of Contla de Juan Cuamatzi La Malinche
San Bernardino Contla, a weaving town on La Malinche's slopes, home of the saltillo sarape and of Tlaxcala's Revolution, with a catrín carnival.
From Chiautempan: 5 min by car (4 km by road) How to get there ↓
Near here
Plan your visit to Contla
Where to stay near Contla
Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Contla.
Tours to Contla
Day trips around Ixtenco sometimes stop in Contla; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.
Tours from Puebla City
Africam Safari Zoo Admission with Transportation
★ 4.8 (87) · From US$35
How to get to Contla
- From Chiautempan: about 5 min by road (~4 km)
- Nearest airport: Puebla (PBC), 1 h 16 min by car to Ixtenco
Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
Tours from Puebla City, near Contla
Tours, prices and ratings from Viator, checked weekly. We may earn a commission if you book.
About Contla
Contla, or San Bernardino Contla, is the seat of the municipality of Contla de Juan Cuamatzi in central Tlaxcala, at 2,319 metres on the slopes of La Malinche and about 12 km from the state capital. It had 30,417 people at the 2020 census. The name comes from the Nahuatl comitl, vessel, and translates as "place of pots". The colonial town was founded in 1535 as San Diego Xicometepetl; the patron later became Saint Bernardino of Siena, and for a century and a half its chapel depended on the Franciscan convent at Chiautempan. To the northeast lie the remains of Tetepetla, a fortified pre-Hispanic settlement on a long, narrow ridge between ravines, cut across by three moats.
Contla lives from the loom. Its many family workshops turn out fine sarapes, jorongos, gabanes, rebozos, bedspreads and tapestries, and above all the saltillo, the brightly striped sarape that, according to Mexico's Encyclopedia of Municipalities, originated in the Chiautempan-Contla area rather than in Saltillo, Coahuila, as the name suggests. Around the 1970s three quarters of the town's people lived directly or indirectly from sarape weaving.
The municipality's surname honours Juan Cuamatzi, an anti-reelectionist leader born here. On 26 May 1910 he gathered his men in Contla and led the state's first armed uprising against governor Próspero Cahuantzi, which is why the town is called the cradle of the Revolution in Tlaxcala. He was captured and killed in February 1911, his remains were brought home in 1916, and he now lies in the atrium of the parish church. Contla was also the home town of Felipe Santiago Xicohténcatl, colonel of the San Blas battalion, who died at Chapultepec in 1847 with the battalion's flag tucked inside his jacket.
The parish church of San Bernardino de Siena has a Mannerist grey-stone façade with the saint in relief and two lions holding medallions, a 17th-century tower with 32 Solomonic columns, two domes, a Baroque altarpiece with a painting of souls in purgatory dated 1719, a 19th-century organ and a baptistery painted by Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin, who also did the murals in the town hall. At carnival the catrines dance: troupes from the barrios in frock coats, top hats, black umbrellas and carved wooden masks. The San Bernardino fair in mid-May fills the square with textile stalls.
How to get to Contla
Drive from Chiautempan: 5 min, 4 km
Contla is about 12 km from Tlaxcala city on the Tlaxcala-San Bernardino Contla road; it is about 3 km northeast of Chiautempan. From Mexico City take the Mexico-Puebla toll highway (150D) and at San Martín Texmelucan the 117D towards Tlaxcala; it is about two hours to the capital and a few minutes more to Contla. From Puebla, about 32 km away, take the short Puebla-Santa Ana road to Chiautempan and carry on northeast (roughly 35 minutes). By bus, ATAH runs from Mexico City's TAPO to Tlaxcala and Chiautempan, and Verdes buses run from Puebla's CAPU to Tlaxcala; continue by taxi. Huamantla, the nearest Pueblo Mágico, is about 26 km away (roughly 30 minutes).
Directions to Contla on Google Maps
Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.
Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
From the nearest cities to Contla
- Chiautempan · 4 km by road, 5 min
- San Martín Texmelucan · 33 km by road, 25 min
- Huamantla · 36 km by road, 35 min
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic or stops. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
Map of Contla
Neighbourhoods and villages of Contla
Part of Contla or just outside it, closest first.
-
Amaxac de Guerrero · Town · 2 km from the centre
Municipal seat of 10,417 people, a former textile-mill area, with the San Bernabé fair on 11 June and catrín carnival groups. -
Tecolotla · Village · 2 km from the centre
Locality in Apetatitlán de Antonio Carvajal at 2,277 m with 926 residents in 2020, a few kilometres from Tlaxcala city. -
Apetatitlán de Antonio Carvajal · Town · 3 km from the centre
San Pablo Apetatitlán, an old staging town on the Veracruz road 7 km from Tlaxcala, with a protected historic core and the Baroque San Pablo church. -
Belén Atzitzimititlán · Town · 3 km from the centre
A locality of 3,962 people 1.8 km from Apetatitlán, at 2,309 m, with a blue-and-white-towered church and murals at its community office. -
Chiautempan · Town · 3 km from the centre
Santa Ana Chiautempan, 6 km from Tlaxcala: the cradle of the sarape, with a July fair, a 16th-century Franciscan convent and mole prieto. -
San Lucas Tlacochcalco · Town · 3 km from the centre
Fourth-largest locality in Santa Cruz Tlaxcala (3,313 people in 2020), with a 17th-century church restored by INAH in 2023; name means "house of arrows". -
Santa Cruz Tlaxcala · Town · 3 km from the centre
Seat of a former textile municipality, with a late-16th-century parish, the San Manuel ex-factory and a carnival of umbrella-bearing dancers. -
San Bartolomé Cuahuixmatlac · Town · 4 km from the centre
Chiautempan's second-largest locality, with a church claimed as the first hermitage in the Americas and the Walnut Fair each August. -
San José Aztatla · Town · 4 km from the centre
Contla village at the foot of La Malinche, with a 19th-century church of bare-stone towers and cantera angels, a jagüey pond and a 19 March saint's day. -
San Matías Tepetomatitlán · Village · 4 km from the centre
Village of 3,273 people about 6 km from Tlaxcala city, with a church to Saint Matthias and views of the hills to the west. -
San Pedro Xochiteotla · Town · 4 km from the centre
Village in Chiautempan with 2,868 people in 2020, once a blanket-weaving place, with its San Pedro fiesta on 29 June. -
Santa María Ixtulco · Town · 4 km from the centre
Birthplace of governor Próspero Cahuantzi, with a Candelaria festival on 2 February, a tamal and mole prieto fair and five carnival camadas. -
Tlatempan · Town · 4 km from the centre
Apetatitlán locality with the Padre Jesús church and workshops making wooden masks for dancers.
Day trips and tours from Contla
The closest Pueblos Mágicos and places to visit, with the drive from Contla and tours that leave from it.
Times marked ~ are estimated from the distance. Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
Before you go: getting to and around Contla
- The nearest airport is Puebla (PBC).
- The best months to go are February, March, November, and December.
- 6 of the places on this page are more than 3 km from the centre: take a taxi, a ride-hailing app or a local bus.
- For day trips a rental car gives the most freedom; the tours above leave from Contla.
Before you go to Contla: hours, prices and tips
- Best season
- Catrín carnival from carnival Sunday to Tuesday, with a troupe contest on Monday and a float parade on Tuesday; feast of San Bernardino from 10 May, with textile stalls in the square from 19 May. Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México (INAFED) · checked Oct 2026
Hours and prices change, especially around holidays. Each fact links to where we checked it.
Visiting Contla: what to see and do
Visit the parish church of San Bernardino de Siena, with its façade lions, Solomonic-columned tower and Juan Cuamatzi's tomb in the atrium.
See the Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin murals in the town hall.
Buy a saltillo or sarape straight from a family workshop.
Come at carnival to see the catrines in their carved wooden masks.
Browse the San Bernardino fair in May, with textile stalls in the square.
Plan your trip
Places to stay in Contla
Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around Contla.
Tours & activities
Day trips around Ixtenco sometimes stop in Contla; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.
Rental cars
Pick up a car at PBC (Puebla): about 1 h 16 min by road to Ixtenco, then 26 km more to Contla, on your own schedule.
Flights
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Puebla (PBC), about 1 h 16 min by road from Ixtenco, the base for Contla.
Mobile data
Signal can drop away from Ixtenco: download a map of the way to Contla before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.
Links open a partner site. We may earn a commission if you book, at no cost to you.
When to go to Contla cool
Contla shares the climate of Ixtenco, 26 km away. The best months to visit are February, March, November, and December.
See the month-by-month climate of Ixtenco
Weather in Contla now and the next 7 days
Live forecast from Open-Meteo. Chance of rain is the day's highest.
The closest Pueblo Mágico: Ixtenco
Ixtenco is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Contla, with places to stay, food, and more to see.
Also close to
- Huamantla · Tlaxcala · 26 km away
- Tlaxco · Tlaxcala · 32 km away
- Huejotzingo · Puebla · 32 km away
- Cholula · Puebla · 34 km away
- Atlixco · Puebla · 54 km away
Near Contla
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.