Layout of Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala de Xicohténcatl sits at 2,250 m on the Río Zahuapan, in the centre of the state of the same name. With about 95,700 people in the municipality at the 2020 census it is the least populous state capital in Mexico, and the whole state — 3,991 km² and 1,342,977 residents — is the smallest in the country by area. The volcano La Malinche (Matlalcuéyetl), 4,461 m, stands 25 km to the south-east and is visible from almost every street; its slopes are a national park of pine and fir.
The centre is unusually intact because the city stopped growing early. The Plaza de la Constitución is closed on the north by the Palacio de Gobierno, a sixteenth-century building whose staircase and corridors carry a mural cycle on Tlaxcaltec history painted by Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin from 1957 until his death in 2007. The parish church of San José stands at the north-west corner and the smaller Plaza Xicohténcatl opens to the south. From it a cobbled ramp climbs to the Ex-Convento de San Francisco, begun in 1537 and one of the first monasteries built in the Americas, with a coffered mudéjar ceiling of carved and gilded wood; beside it stands one of the oldest bullrings in Mexico.
A kilometre north-east, on a hill above the town, the Basílica de Ocotlán is an eighteenth-century pilgrimage church whose white stucco Churrigueresque front is set against plain red hexagonal brick — one of the clearest examples of the Puebla-Tlaxcala style. Boulevard Revolución follows the Zahuapan along the western edge of the centre and carries the through traffic; the bus terminal is on it, a short walk from the main square. The city has no airport of its own.
The state occupies a block of high plain between the Sierra Nevada to the west and La Malinche to the east, drained north-west by the Zahuapan into the Atoyac. At 2,250 m the capital is cold at night year-round and the rains fall from June to September; the plains around it were pulque country, planted with maguey, and the ruined haciendas of that trade are still the landmarks between the villages. Tlaxcala is divided into 60 municipalities, more than any state of its size, and the capital's own municipality covers only about 42 km².
Distances from Tlaxcala
| Place | km | Time | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ana Chiautempan | 5 | 10 min | Local road, colectivo |
| Cacaxtla and Xochitécatl | 20 | 30 min | Road to Nativitas |
| Apizaco | 30 | 30 min | Hwy 136 |
| Puebla | 35 | 40 min | Hwy 119, frequent buses |
| Puebla airport (PBC) | 45 | 50 min | Hwy 119 then 150D |
| Huamantla | 45 | 45 min | Hwy 136 |
| Mexico City | 120 | 2 h | Hwy 117 then 150D, bus to TAPO |
| Pachuca | 145 | 2 h 15 | Hwy 119 then 132 |
| Xalapa | 190 | 3 h | Hwy 140 via Perote |
| Veracruz | 270 | 4 h | Hwy 150D |
Around Tlaxcala
The state was the one substantial power the Aztecs never subdued, and in 1519 its four ruling houses allied with Cortés — the reason the Spanish crown granted the city a coat of arms and a degree of self-government in 1535, and the reason so much sixteenth-century building survives here. Tizatlán, on the northern edge of the city, preserves the painted stucco altars of one of those four seats. Cacaxtla, 20 km south-west above Nativitas, holds the murals of about 650–900 AD found in 1975; the adjoining hill of Xochitécatl has four structures including a circular pyramid, and both share one ticket.
Santa Ana Chiautempan, immediately east, has woven wool sarapes and blankets; Apizaco, 30 km north, is the rail and industrial town; Huamantla, 45 km east under La Malinche, lays coloured sawdust and flower carpets through its streets each August. Hacienda buildings from the pulque trade are scattered across the plains north of the city, several of them still standing. Tlaxcala works well as a quiet base for the Central Mexico circuit: Puebla is forty minutes away and the archaeological sites map and volcanoes map cover the country around it.
Questions about Tlaxcala
Where is Tlaxcala on the map of Mexico?
120 km east of Mexico City at 19.32° N, 98.24° W, in the middle of the state of Tlaxcala, the smallest state in Mexico at 3,991 km². Puebla is 35 km south.
Is Tlaxcala the smallest state capital in Mexico?
Yes, by population. The municipality had about 95,700 residents in the 2020 census, fewer than any other state capital; the built-up area that runs on into Chiautempan and Apizaco holds roughly 540,000.
What are the Cacaxtla murals?
A set of painted battle and ritual scenes from about 650–900 AD at a hilltop settlement 20 km south-west of Tlaxcala, found by looters in 1975 and now under a roof. They combine Maya-style figures with central Mexican iconography and are among the best-preserved pre-Hispanic murals in Mexico. Xochitécatl, with its round pyramid, is on the next hill.
How do you get to Tlaxcala?
There is no airport in the state. Puebla's Hermanos Serdán (PBC) is 45 km away and Mexico City (MEX) 115 km. Buses run to Mexico City's TAPO terminal in about two hours and to Puebla in forty minutes.