Ixcatapec: a Pueblo in Tepoztlán
Ixcatapec is a pueblo (town) within the larger municipality of Tepoztlán. Tepoztlán's population is 60,000, while Ixcatapec has 800 residents. This town is one of the "up-and-coming" neighborhoods with many expat transplants and businesses to cater to their tastes. Ixcatapec in Nahuatl means: "the hill with sheep, or cotton."
This article part of a series on the neighborhoods of Tepoztlán. To better understand these relationships, please review this introductory article.
It takes 15 minutes to get to Ixcatapec, driving from the center of Tepoztlán, down its major east/west street, Calle Revolucíon. The main road curves to the right, the beginning of the two block business section. A side street goes straight ahead. This is residential.
Business district
Here we are looking down the main business street.
There are many stores of all sorts:
One of my favorites is Casa Azul. It is small and oriented towards imported and packaged foods. They buy items from the large corporate Costco in Cuernvaca and charge a little more, but this saves me a half-hour trip.
Another place I frequent is Tepoz Cafe. Chucho, in the doorway below, is the owner. He has cafes in three locations, all with excellent coffee and tempting pastries. In this article, I provide a brief history of the cafes in Tepoztlán.
Near each other are a mansion, owned by a public official, and a non-profit center for crafts. The latter has rows of workshops, each for a different specialty, such as ceramics or woodwork.
While walking through town, taking photos for this article, a heard of horses came from a lot, where they were munching on grass, to enter the street. This is fairly common in Tepoztlán.
And, of course, every neighborhood has its guardians:
Residential area
You enter the business district of Ixcatapec, on from the main road, Revolucíon, , as it forks to the right, . But if you procede straight ahead, you enter the residential area. After just half a block, you come to a corner encompassing the mayor's office (Ayudantia). Across from it is the church and its grounds. Between them is a children's playground.
Here are some signs in the neighborhood, indicating a school (escuela), and advertising food for sale.
The back streets are colorful and varied.
Flowers and unique gates decorate the streets.
We have completed our tour of the town of Ixcatapec within the municipality of Tepoztlán. As you may have guessed, these neighborhoods are very welcoming, just as the sign says (Bienvenidos). Next month we will take a look at a another section, so stay tuned!
