San Mateo Ayecac

San Mateo Ayecac is the third most populous locality in the municipality of Tepetitla de Lardizábal, in southwestern Tlaxcala, almost at the Puebla line. It lies at 2,226 metres above sea level and the 2020 census recorded 4,401 residents, up from 3,366 in 2010 and 372 in 1900. Ayecac comes from Nahuatl and is read as "at the point of the water", a name that fits its place beside the Atoyac river, the main water source for the horticultural communities of southern Tlaxcala.

The church of San Mateo, from the 19th century, stands on the main plaza. It keeps a white-and-mustard portal and atrial wall, a three-tier facade with double cornice and paired pilasters, and inside an image of St Matthew in the main niche, with a mosaic floor and cream-painted arches. The patron saint is celebrated on 21 September. The municipality also holds the former haciendas of San Pedro Rojano (18th century) and San Carlos (19th century).

The river is the village's most delicate subject. Its polluted water is used to irrigate vegetables, and since June 2020 a group of researchers has worked with the community's ejido on a soil and water diagnosis; the results were published in a book from El Colegio de Tlaxcala. The photo on the page shows the Atoyac as it passes the village. The municipality also has garment-sewing workshops, and local tables serve mutton barbacoa, chicken in mixiote, tlatoyos, xocoyoles and pulque.