Town Santa Cruz Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala Municipality of Santa Cruz Tlaxcala La Malinche
Seat of a former textile municipality, with a late-16th-century parish, the San Manuel ex-factory and a carnival of umbrella-bearing dancers.
From Chiautempan: 10 min by car (9 km by road) How to get there ↓
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Where to stay near Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
Compare hotels, posadas and guest houses in Santa Cruz Tlaxcala.
Tours to Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
Day trips around Huamantla sometimes stop in Santa Cruz Tlaxcala; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.
Tours from Puebla City
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How to get to Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
- From Chiautempan: about 10 min by road (~9 km)
- Nearest airport: Puebla (PBC), 1 h 5 min by car to Huamantla
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Tours from Puebla City, near Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
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About Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
Santa Cruz Tlaxcala is the seat of the municipality of the same name, in the centre of the state at roughly 2,320 m above sea level. It had 5,845 inhabitants at the 2020 census. The name joins the Christian cross with tlaxcalli, tortilla: "place of tortillas". The Enciclopedia de los Municipios places the first settlements in the Tlatempan phase and notes that residents received doctrine at the Atlihuetzía convent, begun in 1555.
Cotton made its landscape. In the 19th century the San Manuel factory (1880-1884, closed as a mill in 1968) and La Trinidad rose here, along with a paper mill, San Carlos, and several flour mills. La Trinidad keeps a neo-Gothic chapel from 1888 and an iron bridge brought from England; its halls are now an IMSS holiday centre. San Manuel, where workers founded the Unión y Trabajo society in 1906, still has houses, gardens, the turbine canal and a chapel. On 5 January 1907 the region's textile workers met in Santa Cruz to decide whether to go back to work after the general strike.
The parish of the Santa Cruz keeps a late-16th-century façade with niches, a single tower with Solomonic columns, a monolithic holy-water font of indigenous workmanship and a main altarpiece from the late 1600s with the seven archangels and paintings with Nahuatl texts. At carnival, camadas of umbrella-bearing dancers come out, in top hats, French-featured masks and umbrellas. The patron festival is on 3 May, preceded by a novena. Among the municipality's crafts, carved grey quarry stone stands out.
How to get to Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
Drive from Chiautempan: 10 min, 9 km
INAFED places Santa Cruz Tlaxcala 15 km from Tlaxcala city along the state road Tlaxcala-Santa Ana-Apetatitlán-Santa Cruz Tlaxcala, and only 3 km from Amaxac de Guerrero. From the Tlaxcala bus terminal take a combi toward Chiautempan or Apetatitlán and change for Santa Cruz; there are no published schedules. By car from Tlaxcala, follow that state road northeast (about 30 minutes); from Apizaco, which borders the municipality on the north, access is shorter, and from Puebla you first go to Tlaxcala: buses from CAPU to Tlaxcala take about 40 minutes and driving about 30 minutes and 31 km. Huamantla, the nearest Pueblo Mágico, is about 24 km as the crow flies (about 30 minutes).
Directions to Santa Cruz Tlaxcala on Google Maps
Distances are in a straight line; the road is usually longer.
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From the nearest cities to Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
- Chiautempan · 9 km by road, 10 min
- Huamantla · 32 km by road, 25 min
- San Martín Texmelucan · 35 km by road, 30 min
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic or stops. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
What to see in Santa Cruz Tlaxcala 1
Sights with their own page, closest to the centre first.
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Ex Convento de Santa María de la Concepción Atlihuetzia · Landmark · 3 km from the centre
Roofless 16th-century Franciscan ruin on Atlihuetzía's main square, open to the sky since the 18th century and now the shrine of the Child Martyrs of Tlaxcala.
Map of Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
Neighbourhoods and villages of Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
Part of Santa Cruz Tlaxcala or just outside it, closest first.
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San Lucas Tlacochcalco · Town · 1 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". -
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. -
San Miguel Contla · Town · 2 km from the centre
Locality in Santa Cruz Tlaxcala municipality with 9,556 people in 2020, larger than the municipal seat; its church has a bell tower and clock. -
Atlihuetzía · Town · 3 km from the centre
Village between Tlaxcala and Apizaco with waterfalls on the Zahuapan River and the ruined friary where child martyr Saint Cristóbal died. -
Contla · Town · 3 km from the centre
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. -
Belén Atzitzimititlán · Town · 4 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. -
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. -
Santa Anita Huiloac · Town · 4 km from the centre
Village just south of Apizaco with an 18th-century church to Saint Anne and a carnival of two camadas that dance lancer and French quadrilles. -
Tecolotla · Village · 4 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.
Day trips and tours from Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
The closest Pueblos Mágicos and places to visit, with the drive from Santa Cruz Tlaxcala 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 Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
- The nearest airport is Puebla (PBC).
- The best months to go are January, February, November, and December.
- 4 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 Santa Cruz Tlaxcala.
Before you go to Santa Cruz Tlaxcala: hours, prices and tips
- Best season
- Santa Cruz festival: novena starting nine days before 3 May; mañanitas at 5-6 a.m. on 3 May. Carnival: Sunday to Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. INAFED, Enciclopedia de los Municipios (Santa Cruz Tlaxcala) · checked Oct 2026
Hours and prices change, especially around holidays. Each fact links to where we checked it.
Visiting Santa Cruz Tlaxcala: what to see and do
Visit the parish of the Santa Cruz, with its 16th-century façade, Solomonic-column tower and main altarpiece with the seven archangels.
Walk the San Manuel ex-factory, with its gardens, turbine canal and chapel.
See the La Trinidad holiday centre, a former mill with a neo-Gothic chapel and an English iron bridge.
Visit the Calvario chapel and the church of San Lucas Tlachco, begun in 1705.
Eat turkey mole or mixiote barbacoa and look for carved grey-stone figures.
Plan your trip
Places to stay in Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
Compare hotels, posadas, and rentals in and around Santa Cruz Tlaxcala.
Tours & activities
Day trips around Huamantla sometimes stop in Santa Cruz Tlaxcala; a tour is the easy way to see it without a car.
Rental cars
Pick up a car at PBC (Puebla): about 1 h 5 min by road to Huamantla, then 24 km more to Santa Cruz Tlaxcala, on your own schedule.
Flights
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Puebla (PBC), about 1 h 5 min by road from Huamantla, the base for Santa Cruz Tlaxcala.
Mobile data
Signal can drop away from Huamantla: download a map of the way to Santa Cruz Tlaxcala before you set out, or carry an eSIM with data.
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When to go to Santa Cruz Tlaxcala cool
Santa Cruz Tlaxcala shares the climate of Huamantla, 24 km away. The best months to visit are January, February, November, and December.
See the month-by-month climate of Huamantla
Weather in Santa Cruz Tlaxcala now and the next 7 days
Live forecast from Open-Meteo. Chance of rain is the day's highest.
The closest Pueblo Mágico: Huamantla
Huamantla is the Pueblo Mágico closest to Santa Cruz Tlaxcala, with places to stay, food, and more to see.
Also close to
- Ixtenco · Tlaxcala · 25 km away
- Tlaxco · Tlaxcala · 29 km away
- Huejotzingo · Puebla · 35 km away
- Cholula · Puebla · 37 km away
- Chignahuapan · Puebla · 55 km away
Near Santa Cruz Tlaxcala
Drive times by road from OpenStreetMap, without traffic. Times marked ~ are estimated from the straight-line distance.
Location from OpenStreetMap. Written by Puebloteca.