José María Morelos Buenavista

José María Morelos Buenavista, also called San Andrés Buenavista, lies about 16 km west of the municipal seat of Tlaxco, at roughly 2,558 m above sea level. According to Wikipedia the area was first settled by the Otomí and later formed part of the Tlaxcalan republic; in the 19th century the hacienda of San Andrés Buenavista was established, and after the Revolution land reform left the workers settled around the old estate house. The village was then renamed for José María Morelos, and in 1946 the ejido gained another 350 hectares. At the 2020 census it had 1,851 people, and farming and cattle raising remain the main activities.

What draws visitors is La Barca de la Fe, the parish church of San Andrés, built of concrete in the shape of a ship. The project for a new church began in 1974 on the site of an old tinacal; the priest Arnulfo Mejía Rojas arrived in December 1984 and, after consulting the community, changed the design to a much larger boat-shaped church, inspired by the boat of Saint Andrew, a fisherman, and by the caravel Santa María. The bell tower is a lighthouse, and pre-Hispanic motifs run through the building: fretwork, pyramids and Quetzalcóatl. It holds about 5,000 people and has a museum dedicated to Father Mejía, who died in 2016, and a top deck that serves as a viewpoint.

The Fiesta de la Fraternidad de los Pueblos is held on 12 October, the Passion is acted out live during Holy Week, and the community has its own carnival.