Tollantzinco

Tollantzinco, later known as Tulancingo, lies in a high valley east of Pachuca. Local traditions associate the place with the Toltecs and the ancient centre of Huapalcalco, where a stepped pyramid stands at the foot of the hills. Its name is linked to the reeds that grew in the valley and to the old Nahua memory of Tollan.

After the Spanish conquest, Franciscan friars entered the valley to preach among its inhabitants. In 1528 Juan de Padilla founded San Juan Bautista Tollantzinco and began a convent complex. The church and convent became a focus of the colonial town, which retained the name of its older Indigenous predecessor. The valley thus carried memories of earlier settlements alongside the institutions established by the new rulers.