The Padre Tembleque Aqueduct (Acueducto del Padre Tembleque) is considered the most important water supply and distribution system built in the 16th century in the viceroyalty of New Spain. The 45 km long system was used to collect water from the slopes of the Tecajete volcano and to supply the All Saints Congregation (Congregación de Todos los Santos) as well as various villages. The system was designed by Father Francisco de Tembleque, a Franciscan from the Spanish town of Tembleque who had come to Otumba as a missionary. In order to improve the situation of the poor population, he promised the All Saints Congregation a water pipe, if they would allow him to carry water from Tecajete to Otumba. The aqueduct was built by the help of many people living there. This is why You can find a lot of different symbols in the arches which represent the families which helped to build the aqueduct. I visited this beautiful place with Maria, Manni, Pau and our tourist guide Ana who explained us a lot about its relevance and history.
After that we visited the archaeological zone of Xihuingo which is located at the foot of the hill of the same name, a word which means "the place where the year is calculated". The hill of Xihuingo is the second most important elevation of the state with 3.240 meters above sea level. The pyramid is called "El Tecolote" (the owl) because a sculpture of this animal was found in it.
After our excursion to these archaeological places we made a stop in a little town nearby where Ana gave us further explanations of how the water which reached its places by the archaeduct was used by the people. She demonstrated us how women washed their clothes at a public water basin. At the end of the day we had pizza as we were all very hungry after spending the whole day in the sun.
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