Although there are common elements among the rituals surrounding the celebration of the Day of the Dead in our country, each region and town has a particular and unique way of doing it. In Mexico City, we find Mixquic, one of the thirteen towns of Tláhuac where the celebration of the Day of the Dead is a fundamental part of the town's life.
The name Mixquic has Nahuatl origins, it is said to mean 'mezquital' or 'in the mesquite', but some researchers have proposed that Mixquic comes from the Nahuatl Miquixtly meaning 'death', which is directly related to the importance of the Day of the Dead in this locality.
Since pre-Hispanic times, Mixquic was characterized as an important agricultural region. Historians point out that it was founded as an independent lordship with its own government around the years 1150-1168. Being located in a privileged territory and because of its great agricultural production, Mixquic was subdued by the Mexica people in 1433.
Hernán Cortés and his troops spent the night here in 1519, but it was not until 1533 that the Augustinian order arrived in Mixquic and began the construction dedicated to San Andrés Apóstol, becoming the patron saint of the town. Of this temple built by the people of Mixquic today only the tower, the bell tower and the open chapel remain, because due to earthquakes and the humidity of the area, they have been collapsing.
Currently there are 4 original neighborhoods in Mixquic: San Miguel, San Agustín, San Bartolomé and Los Reyes. This division has been maintained since colonial times and each is identified by a stone cross. According to an investigation by anthropologist Yurema Echeverría, the inhabitants of the town mention that: "The crosses are made of stone on the outside, but on the inside they are filled with bones that the people themselves find when they go to build their houses, when they excavate they find many bones, from that time, of the indigenous people who lived here before they came to conquer us".
In the streets and neighborhoods of Mixquic, this town of pre-Hispanic origin, the Day of the Dead celebration is one of the most important in the calendar. Preparations begin months in advance when the planting of cempasúchil flowers begins.
At the entrance to the town, on the road coming from Tetelco, on Independencia Street, right in the Barrio de San Miguel, there is a small market with typical food and quesadillas, especially squash blossoms and huitlacoche freshly harvested in the chinampa, which can be admired from there. Of the typical dishes of the region, such as the mixmole, made with mole, charales and nopales, exquisite heritage of pre-Hispanic gastronomy.
On July 29, 2011, the Tourism Office of the capital's government declared Mixquic as a Magical Town, due to the intention to promote it as a tourist destination and to turn it into a tourist destination only on November 1 and 2; however, these plans were not consummated, and at the end of the administration of that six-year term, the Magical Towns program disappeared.
