San Mateo Xaltelolco

San Mateo Xaltelolco is one of the original neighborhooods of Azcapotzalco. As in a few other cases, the territorial reorganization has left the town church to north of the original neighborhood. To add insult to injury, the church was in such a state of disrepair that a replacement church now takes up the entirety of the former atrium.

• The Nahuatl name, Xaltelolco refers to an accumulation or mound of sand. In the ancient world, the place was also referred to as Tequitl, referring to its role as a place for taxation or tribute paid to the Tepaneca government. The town may have been the site of an ancient temple.

The older church here is from the 19th century although it contains some remnants of a 17th-century structure. The newer church was begun in 1978 and has preserved much of the older structure. It also repeats the east to west orientation.

The chapel is today in the modern neighborhood of La Preciosa. It’s just about a 10-minute walk from Metro Aquiles Serdán. The old barrio de San Mateo Xaltelolco extends eastward from just south of the chapel. Streets are crooked and narrow as one expects from ancient neighborhoods. But people are freindly and straightforward.