Tepexi

Tepexi was the centre of an important independent Popoloca lordship in the dry country south of Puebla. Its old fortified settlement occupied a plateau protected by two deep ravines, with walls enclosing plazas and ceremonial mounds. The Nahuatl name means “split rock”, a fitting description of the steep landscape around the town.

Tepexi el Viejo was occupied from about 1300 until the Spanish conquest. Its defences guarded a community that faced the growing power of the Mexica in the fifteenth century. After the conquest, Spanish authorities ordered settlements moved to lower and more accessible places; the later town of Tepexi developed away from the fortified heights. In colonial times the district became known for silk, produced from mulberry trees and silkworms.