Ixcateopan (archaeological site)

Ixcateopan is an archaeological site located in the town and municipality of Ixcateopan de Cuauhtémoc, 36 kilometers from Taxco, in the isolated and rugged mountains of the northern part of the Mexican state of Guerrero. The explored archeological remains are part of a city which functioned as an important regional ceremonial center. Ixcateopan was a place of cult and army garrisons inhabited by various native groups, such as the Cohuixcas (people of the place where there are lizards), The Chontales (foreigners) and by the Aztecs, at the time when the latter were at war with the Purépecha. The city is known as the final resting place of Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec Tlatoani, whose remains were found under the parish church here in the mid-20th century. This church has been converted into a museum with displays a number of pre-Hispanic artifacts, offerings left in honor of the emperor and the remains of Cuauhtémoc himself. Only a portion of the "original" structures remain, as a result of a street construction and multiple sackings that have occurred by people seeking “carved” stones. Only the civic-religious section can be seen, constituted by several rooms and open spaces, where remains of red stucco in the floors can be observed, the main structure is of circular shape and might have been dedicated to Quetzalcoatl. The chronological placing of the site is from 1350 to 1521 CE.