Tlachco

Tlachco was an Indigenous town and tributary centre in the mountains of northern Guerrero, near the later mining town of Taxco. Its Nahuatl name refers to the ballgame. Before the Spanish conquest the town gathered tribute for the Mexica, including valuable precious metals from the surrounding province.

Hernán Cortés sent men to investigate the region after hearing that tin could be obtained there for making artillery. They found valuable mineral veins, and Spanish mining settlements arose nearby. The principal colonial mining town developed at Tetelcingo, rather than at the older centre of Tlachco. By 1570 the district included several separate and prosperous mining camps and Indigenous towns, while the old tributary centre continued under Spanish colonial rule as Taxco el Viejo.