Introduction to Tlaxcala

120km (74 miles) E of Mexico City; 40km (25 miles) N of Puebla

Tlaxcala is the capital of Mexico's smallest state (also named Tlaxcala) and a Colonial-era city that is much slower paced than Puebla. It's close enough to be visited in a day trip from Puebla, but I enjoy spending the night and getting to know the city at leisure. To understand Tlaxcala and its inhabitants, one must go back 500 years, to before the Conquest, when the Tlaxcalan federation of city-states was the bitter rival of the Aztec Empire, and both were locked in a mortal struggle that the Tlaxcalans were losing. Along come the conquistadors. And Cortez, crafty Spaniard that he was, played on this enmity to enlist the Tlaxcalan warriors in his siege of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán, now Mexico City. As a reward for being the first and foremost allies of the Spanish, the Tlaxcalan rulers received special rights and privileges and a certain level of independence that no other cities enjoyed.

Over the centuries, while the power and wealth of Mexico was concentrated in the capital city, Tlaxcala became something of a backwater. But to this day (and I'm not exaggerating), locals conceive of Tlaxcala as the polar opposite and rival of Mexico City. The other notion that surfaces when you spend any time chatting with the locals is a latent sheepishness for having befriended the invading forces, thus betraying the New World. In the way of mitigation for this crime, much is made of the martyrdom of Xicoténcatl, a Tlaxcalan prince who rebelled against the Spanish and who has become a symbol of cultural resistance, much the same way as the Aztec prince Cuauhtémoc is for most Mexicans. And after Mexico City acquired a holy patroness in the person of La Virgen de Guadalupe, another virgin made her appearance in Tlaxcala -- La Virgen de Ocotlán.

This fascinating history and the relaxing pace of life here make for pleasant exploration. Tlaxcala attracts few tourists and retains its small-town atmosphere and overall low prices. Two blocks from the main plaza is a classic old bull ring, still in use, and across from it is the old Templo de San Francisco, supposedly the site where the Tlaxcalan chiefs were baptized. The church is noted for the elaborately inlaid Moorish ceiling below the choir loft. A painting inside the Chapel of the Third Order shows the baptism of the chiefs. To the right of the Templo is the former convent, now a museum containing early paintings and artifacts from nearby archaeological sites.

The Government Palace, on the handsome, tree-shaped central zócalo, contains vivid murals by a local artist, Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin, who died in 2007. The murals illustrate the city's history. The expanded Museo de Artesanías, on Sanchez Piedras between Lardizábal and Primera de Mayo, showcases the state's wide-ranging crafts and customs. Here local artisans give visitors demonstrations in such crafts as embroidery, weaving, and pulque-making (juice of fermented agaves). Don't plan to breeze through; tours are mandatory and rather structured, and they take an hour or more -- but are interesting. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 6pm; admission is 10 pesos.

Less than 1km (just over half a mile) from the town center is the Ocotlán Sanctuary [SS], constructed after Juan Diego Bernardino claimed to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary on that site in 1541. Baroque inside and out, it has elaborate interior decorations of carved figures and curling gilded wood that date from the 1700s. The carvings are attributed to Francisco Miguel Tlayotehuanitzin, an Indian sculptor who labored for more than 20 years to create them.

Tlaxcala's tourist information office is at the intersection of avenidas Juárez and Lardizábal (tel. 246/465-0961, or 01-800/509-6557 in Mexico). Office hours are Monday through Friday from 9am to 7pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 2pm. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, it sponsors small bus tours of the city (in Spanish) that cost 20 pesos. It used to offer a Sunday tour of the Cacaxtla site, and it might do so again. Inquire at the office. Cacaxtla (pronounced "kah-kahsh-tlah") is perhaps Tlaxcala's main attraction. It's a pre-Hispanic hilltop site 19km (12 miles) southwest of the city with some of the most vivid murals in Mexico. Heavy rains in 2007 caused some damage, but the site is open daily 9am to 5pm.