7 Best Sights in Around Mexico City, Mexico

On a hill about 1 km (½ mile) northwest of the center of Tlaxcala stands the ornate Basilica de Ocotlán. You can see its churrigueresque facade, topped with twin towers adorned with the apostles, from just about everywhere in the city. The church is most notable as a pilgrimage site. In 1541 the Virgin Mary appeared to a poor peasant, telling him to cure an epidemic with water from a stream that had suddenly appeared. Franciscan monks, eager to find the source of the miracle, ventured into the forest. There they discovered raging flames that didn't harm one particular pine (ocotlán). When they split the tree open, they discovered the wooden image of the Virgen de Ocotlán, which they installed in a gilded altar. Many miracles have been attributed to the statue, which wears the braids popular for indigenous women at the time. Behind the altar is the brilliantly painted Camarín de la Virgen (Dressing Room of the Virgin) that tells the story. At the base of the hill is the appealing Capilla del Pocito de Agua Santa, an octagonal chapel decorated with images of the Virgen de Ocotlán. The faithful come to draw holy water from its seven fountains.

Tlaxcala's most famous site isn't in the town at all. At the nearby archaeological site of Cacaxtla you'll see some of Mexico's most vividly colored murals. Accidentally discovered in 1975, the main temple at Cacaxtla contains breathtaking scenes of a surprisingly vicious battle between two bands of warriors. The nearly life-size figures wearing jaguar skins clearly have the upper hand against their foes in lofty feathered headdresses.

The site, dating from AD 650 to AD 900, is thought to be the work of the Olmeca-Xicalanca people. Other paintings adorn smaller structures. The newly restored Templo Rojo, or Red Temple, is decorated with stalks of corn with cartoonlike human faces. Perhaps the most delightful is in the Templo de Venus, or Temple of Venus, where two figures are dancing in the moonlight, their bodies a striking blue.

On a hill about 1½ km (1 mile) north of Cacaxtla is the site of Xochitécatl, with four Classic Period pyramids. You can see both sites with the same admission ticket. Head south from Mexico City toward Puebla on Carretera Federal 119. Veer off to the right toward the town of Nativitas. Both sites are near the village of San Miguel del Milagro.

This cathedral is atop a hill one block south of Plaza Xicohténcatl. Its most unusual feature is its Moorish-style wood ceiling beams, carved and gilded with gold studs. There are only a few churches of this kind in Mexico, as Mudejar flourishes were popular here only during the really early years after the Spanish conquest. The austere monastery is home to the Museo Regional de Tlaxcala, which displays 16th- to 18th-century religious paintings as well as a small collection of pre-Columbian pieces. A beautiful outdoor chapel near the monastery has notable Moorish and Gothic traces.

To the west of Plaza Xicohténcatl is this fascinating museum with a colonial-era facade but a strikingly modern interior. By focusing on the folklore and festivals of various indigenous cultures, its displays recount the region's past and present.

Inside the eastern entrance to this government building north of the main square are murals by local painter Desiderio Hernández Xochitiotzin depicting Tlaxcala's pivotal role in the Spanish conquest. The city aligned itself with Cortés against the Aztecs, thus swelling the conqueror's ranks significantly.

The Parroquia de San José is cheerfully decorated in vivid shades of yellow and green. Don't miss the pair of fonts near the entrance that depict Camaxtli, a god of war.

Bordered by Calle Camargo and Avenida Juárez, Tlaxcala's main square has a gorgeously tiled bandstand shaded by graceful trees. Adjoining the zócalo at its southeast corner is another square, Plaza Xicohténcatl. Souvenir shops line its eastern edge.