Santa Cruz Tetela

Santa Cruz Tetela is a locality in Chiautempan at roughly 2,295 metres above sea level, with 1,956 residents at the 2020 census, down from 2,668 in 2010. Its name joins the Holy Cross, the village's patron, with the Nahuatl word tetela, usually translated as stony place or where stones abound. The view from its farm tracks is one of open plots, with prickly pears standing among the furrows and, in the distance, the rooftops and towers of the region's built-up area.

The village belongs to the municipality of Chiautempan, which the Enciclopedia de los Municipios lists as one of the 21 confederated lordships of the old Tlaxcalan republic, and which is now known as the sarape city for its textile trade in sarapes, jorongos and tapestries. Santa Cruz Tetela shares that setting with the other communities of the municipality, but keeps its own authority: in the electoral listing the Enciclopedia reproduces, its auxiliary municipal president is chosen by usos y costumbres rather than by constitutional vote. The same list names San Pedro Tlalcuapan and San Bartolo Cuahuixmatla among its neighbours.

Across the municipality, patron-saint festivals bring the dance of the vaqueros vasarios, with a trio of violin, vihuela and guitarrón. No programme is published for Tetela's own celebrations; ask at the auxiliary presidency. The day of the Holy Cross falls on 3 May.