Tepeaca is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Mexican state A Mexican State (), officially the Free and Sovereign State (), is a constituent federative entity of Mexico according to the Constitution of Mexico. Currently there are 31 states, each with its own constitution, government, state governor, a ...

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

in southeastern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Tepeaca is located 35 km (21.75 mi) from the city of Puebla and is the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Its name comes from a Spanish variant of "Tepeyacac" composed of the

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

words ''tepetl'' ("hill") and ''yacatl'' ("nose tip, which is in the foreground") (can be translated in various ways: "in the top of the hill" or "the principle of the hills"). It has been called Tepeaca de Negrete as it was the birthplace and hometown of General Miguel Negrete Novoa. Along with Tecali Herrera, he extracted the onyx and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

. The town was originally founded by

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

as Segura de la Frontera. In the parish of San Francisco de Asís is a

Child Jesus The Christ Child—also known as Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Child Jesus, Divine Child, Divine Infant and the Holy Child—refers to Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ during his early years. The term refers to a period of life of Jesus, Jesus' l ...

image called the Santo Niño Doctor de los Enfemos. The image is old but devotion to it is relatively recent. The image used to belong to a nun of the Order of Josephine at Concepción Béistegui Hospital in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. When the nun was transferred to Tepeaca, she brought the image with her and had it with her as she treated the sick. This image has had its own feast day at this church since 1961 on the 30 of April.

References

Municipalities of Puebla {{Puebla-geo-stub