Current Time in Tláhuac, Mexico

Tláhuac lies in the southeastern part of Mexico City, one of the sixteen boroughs that make up the capital. It occupies the flat bed of what were once the lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco, with the dark volcanic cones of the Sierra de Santa Catarina rising along its northern edge. At an altitude of more than two thousand two hundred metres the climate is temperate, with warm dry springs, a rainy summer and cool nights throughout the year.

Nearly four hundred thousand people live in the borough. Although it is fully part of the vast metropolis, Tláhuac has kept a character quite different from the central districts, with agricultural land, village churches and communities that still describe themselves as pueblos rather than neighbourhoods.

Its name comes from Nahuatl and is usually understood as guardian or keeper of the water, which suits a settlement founded on an island in the shallow lake. The town of Cuitláhuac was established in the twelfth century and became a link in the chain of lakeside communities that surrounded the Aztec capital, connected by causeways and surrounded by chinampas, the artificial garden plots built up from lake mud that produced extraordinary harvests. After the Spanish conquest the lakes were gradually drained, and the islands became hills in a dusty plain, though pockets of canal and chinampa farming survive to this day and still supply vegetables and flowers to the city.

The historic centre of San Pedro Tláhuac retains a colonial church, a market and a plaza where local traditions remain strong. The borough's most famous village, however, is San Andrés Mixquic, which hosts one of the most celebrated Day of the Dead observances in all of Mexico. On the night of the second of November thousands of candles fill the churchyard cemetery, families decorate graves with marigolds and copal incense, bells toll and the whole village glows, drawing visitors from around the world. Mixquic also preserves pre Hispanic carved stones, including a famous chacmool figure, set into the walls of its Augustinian monastery.

Other attractions include the regional museum, the wetlands and canals near Tlaltenco where boats can still be hired, and the volcanic hills that offer views across the entire valley. Local cuisine is rooted in the countryside, with barbacoa, quesadillas of squash blossom and huitlacoche, nopal cactus, tamales and pulque made from maguey.

The borough is served by Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro, whose eastern terminus lies here, along with cable buses, trolleybuses and an extensive network of local minibuses. Work to rebuild and strengthen the metro line after a serious accident in 2021 has been a major focus of public attention.

Educational and cultural centres, sports facilities and community houses support a young population, and several higher education campuses serve the southeast of the capital.

Tláhuac is significant as a place where the ancient lake culture of the Valley of Mexico still shows through the surface of a modern megacity.