How to get there
From Mexico City by bus (departure from Terminal del Oriente near the metro station Candelaría); by car 20km/12.4mi past the airport on the road leading across the dried-up Texcoco Lake or 44km/27mi on the MEX 190 and 136 via Los Reyes.
From the 14th to the 16th c. Texcoco had a
historically important role. Founded on the edge of the lake of the same name (today dried-up), the town rivalled Tenochtitlán, the Aztec metropolis which had been built on an island in what was then a lake. Today Texcoco, conveniently situated not far to the north-west of Mexico City, is a trading centre for woollen clothing, ceramics and glass with a surrounding area which boasts many archaeological sites and artistic treasures from the colonial period.
History
The Chichimecs, who under their leader Xólotl had founded Tenayuca in the 13th c., under Quinatzin moved their capital city at the beginning of the 14th c. to Texcoco (Náhuatl: "place of the large rocks"), which had already been founded in the Toltec period. In the second half of the 14th c. the town came under the ruling influence of the Tepanecs of Atzcapotzalco (Náhuatl: "anthill of men"). Finally in 1428 the Tepanecs were defeated by an alliance between the Mexica and Texcoco and the kingdom of Texcoco was restored in 1431. Its benevolent ruler Netzahualcóyotl ("hungry coyote"; 1418-72), who became legendary as a poet and warrior, concluded a tripartite alliance with Tenochtitlán and Tlacopán (Tacuba) and in so doing ushered in Texcoco's golden age. Politically the city state, which developed a reputation as a spiritual and artistic centre, was under the dominance of the warlike Mexica. After the death of Netzahualcóyotl's son and successor Netzahualpilli (1472-1515) there were disputes about the succession which were exploited by the Mexica to the disadvantage of Texcoco. After the town was occupied by the Spanish in 1521 without any great resistance, Texcoco became the launching-place for the ships built in Tlaxcala, which played a decisive role in defeating the lakeside town of Tenochtitlán. It is estimated that the population of Texcoco grew to as much as 150,000 after the Spanish conquest. Soon after their arrival the Franciscans built a school for the Indians. Hernán Cortés, who lived in Texcoco intermittently, is supposed to have buried his first wife there in 1530, then later his mother and in 1536 a son. The plague epidemic of 1575-76 decimated the population and a century later Texcoco was no more than an insignificant small town.
Sights
The old splendours of the town are scarcely noticeable any longer. Of the Franciscan convent built next to the Palace of Netzahualpilli the entrance hall with the Open Chapel and a Renaissance cloister are all that remain. The beautiful Spanish-Plateresque north doorway in the parish church is notable, while the portal of the Capilla de la Concepción ("La Conchita") is a particularly fine example of the 16th c. Indian stonemason's craft known as "Tequitqui".
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