Tlaxcala and Cacaxtla
Zona ArqueolóGica (INAH) / Capital De Tlaxcala · Nativitas, Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala is Mexico's smallest state and the one that decided the conquest. The Tlaxcaltecs were never subdued by the Aztecs, and in 1519 they allied with Cortes; without those tens of thousands of indigenous troops the Spanish do not take Tenochtitlan. Five hundred years later people still call Tlaxcalans traitors, and the state is tired of it. On a hilltop nearby sits Cacaxtla, where looters uncovered in 1975 some of the best-preserved murals in all Mesoamerica: a life-size battle scene of jaguar warriors destroying bird warriors, painted in a Maya style hundreds of kilometres from Maya territory, which nobody has fully explained. One ticket, commonly MXN 90-120 (roughly USD 5-7), also covers the older Xochitecatl site on the next hill. Tlaxcala city adds ochre arcades, the Palacio de Gobierno murals and the Basilica de Ocotlan, and most visitors come as a day trip from Puebla, 45 minutes away.
Zona Arqueológica de Cacaxtla, Nativitas, Nativitas, Tlaxcala, 90670, Mexico
⚠ THE PIN IS CACAXTLA, the archaeological site, which is about 30 minutes from Tlaxcala city. ⚠ ONE INAH ADMISSION COVERS BOTH CACAXTLA AND XOCHITÉCATL, on adjacent hills - keep the ticket stub and do both. Both keep INAH daytime hours and close mid-afternoon; INAH Sunday free admission applies to Mexican nationals and residents only. ⚠ NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE MURAL HALL and tripods usually need permission - the pigments are light-sensitive and survived only because they were buried. ⚠ THE PALACIO DE GOBIERNO MURALS IN TLAXCALA CITY ARE FREE and visible in business hours. The Basílica de Ocotlán is free; ⚠ ITS CAMARÍN IS NOT ALWAYS OPEN - ask. ⚠ HUAMANTLA'S NIGHT THAT NOBODY SLEEPS FALLS IN MID-AUGUST and includes a running of the bulls. ⚠ ALTITUDE ABOUT 2,200 METRES WITH COLD NIGHTS YEAR ROUND. ⚠ HOURS AND PRICES NOT VERIFIED FOR THIS FILE.
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