Mizantla

Mizantla lies between the mountains and the coastal plain of Veracruz, in a region with a long Totonac history. Its older settlement stood in the hills at a place later called Pueblo Viejo. Franciscan missionaries sought to bring dispersed communities together, and in 1564 the inhabitants were moved to a new site near the rivers of the district. The move reshaped the town as colonial authorities organized the surrounding Indigenous population.