Chiautla

Chiautla lies in the rugged Mixteca country of southern Puebla, beside a river that flows toward the Atoyac and the Balsas basin. Cultivated land surrounds the town, while steep hills rise beyond it. Known in colonial times as Chiautla de la Sal, it became a religious and administrative centre for communities spread across this difficult country.

Augustinian missionaries began work in the region in the 1530s, and their order founded a convent at Chiautla around 1550. The church and monastery were built on high ground overlooking the town. By the end of the sixteenth century Chiautla was a royal town served by the Augustinians; in the seventeenth century it became the seat of an alcaldía mayor. Its religious jurisdiction extended to numerous Indigenous settlements in the surrounding region.