Tlalmanalco Attractions

Situated 10km/6 1/4mi) north-west of Amecameca de Juárez is the small town of Tlalmanalco (Náhuatl: "on the plain"; population: 25,000) which boasts a Franciscan friary built in 1525. In the cloister, reached through the vestibule, sections of fresco still survive. Behind its fine Renaissance façade the late 16th c. church of San Luis Obispo contains a beautiful Baroque altar and some paintings. The Open Chapel, built between 1559 and 1564 but only partly preserved, is rather special. With its very ornate pillars and arches it is one of the loveliest examples of the Spanish-Plateresque style to have been executed by Indian craftsmen.