Pueblo San Pedro Tláhuac

The Pueblo San Pedro Tláhuac is the seat of the local government and a very ancient town. It’s among the most important of the seven original settlements of Tláhuac.

The town was founded on a small island at the end of the 12th century. With the emergence of the Triple Alliance, it was the seat of a realm that covered the important southeastern Valley of Mexico. It supplied much of the food necessary to feeding the imperial capital at Tenochtitlan.

With the arrival of the Spanish, the Franciscans began their temple on the grounds of the ancient ceremonial center in 1529. Today, that’s the Church of St. Peter the Apostle. The church monastery we see today was famously rebuilt by the architect Ignacio Castera between 1790 and 1806.

Toward the end of the long colonial period, Tláhuac was under the control of Chalco, to the east in today’s Mexico State. It later fell under the dominion of Xochimilco. When it became part of Mexico City in 1928, the seat of the local government was again in San Pedro. Today’s alcaldía seat is to the north of the old church and the Parque de Tláhuac esplanade complex. 

To the very south of the town, the waters of the Lake of the Aztec Kings reach the boat launch area. Tours from here see the ancient chinampas and the farmlands still in use today.

The Mercado de Tláhuac is en route to the lake as is the Regional Museum which collects and presents artifacts important to the area.