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Stage of important events in the history of
México, Tlalpan, formerly known as San Agustín
de las Cuevas, treasures atmospheres and spaces
which are a pleasant escape of the everyday life
of the city without even leaving it.
Tlalpan is located to the south of Mexico City
among the mountainous landscape of the Ajusco
and the areas Pedregal de San Angel and
University City.
Tlalpan, which in the náhuatl dialect means “on
the earth”, has its most ancient origins
centuries before the Christian era, between the
years 900 and 600 b.C. with the population of
Cuicuilco, of which still today we can
appreciate a pyramid, unique in Mesoamérica
because of its coned shape, which’s
architectural meaning referred to one of the
volcanoes of the area. Said prehispanic village
was destroyed by a volcanic eruption that
covered the whole area with lava, creating the
rocky areas in the south of the Valley of
Mexico.
During the viceroyship, in a similar way to
other nearby populations like San Angel, Tlalpan
was a modest agricultural village characterized
by its orchards and thick vegetation, which
nevertheless was a site of field trips and
picnics for the inhabitants of the capital of
the New Spain. Properties like the “Casa Chata”
(flat house), an interesting 18th
Century building which takes its name from the
aspect it has of being flat at the corner
because it has a third façade, still remain
until today. From these times there is also the
Temple of San Agustin, an austere parish in
front of the main plaza, which possesses simple
gardens and a cozy patio shaded by fruit trees.
Afterwards, in the years of Mexico’s
Independence, the area received political
importance by becoming for a short period of
time the capital of the then newly-created state
of México. During the six years as the capital,
Tlalpan had an extensive development in
infrastructure with the opening of the Casa de
Moneda (Treasury) and a printing house, where
the Cuban writer Jose María Heredia published
some of his poems during his stay in Mexico.
Later on, in the times when Porfirio Díaz was
president, several factories started to be
established in the surroundings, the Loreto y
Peña Pobre paper factory was one of the most
well-known, and after having disappeared, has
turned into a beautiful ecological park with
environmental education activities and
attractions for the whole family. In the years
of the Revolution, Tlalpan was a forced way of
the “Zapatista” troops which came from the
nearby state of Morelos, being precisely the
place in which the historical meeting between
the Generals Emiliano Zapata and Francisco Villa
took place; it was a fundamental event in the
struggle.
After the Revolution, Tlalpan became absorbed by
the urban expansion of Mexico City in the middle
of the 20th Century, which turned the
ancient village of San Agustín de las Cuevas
into an oasis in which you can enjoy a stroll
down the streets, its cultural centers or a nice
cup of coffee. The Convent of las Capuchinas
deserves to be mentioned, as its chapel,
designed by the famous architect Luis Barragán
and the artist Mathías Goeritz, is recognized as
one of the most beautiful architectural spaces
in the world. |
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