The archaeological area is known locally as the Hill of the Idols, literally means "place where you worship Malinalxochitl" Aztec goddess responsible for witchcraft and other dark arts, who was also the sister of Huitzilopochtli.

The village of Malinalco, 20km east of Tenancingo, is a lovely little place nestled in a fertile, alluvial valley at 1800m and surrounded by rich villas many of them, complete with swimming pools, the weekend homes of the capital’s privileged few. The fact that it is noticeably warmer than most of the towns hereabouts makes it a popular retreat in winter. It centres on the huge Augustinian church of Santa Mónica and has a vibrant Wednesday morning market, but the real reason to come here is to see the exemplary Aztec ruins.

The Aztec site of Malinalco (Tues–Sun 10am–5pm) sits high on a hill to the west of town (follow Guerrero west from the zócalo) and can be reached after a twenty- to thirty-minute walk up a very steep, stepped path. Having only been started in 1501, it was still incomplete at the time of the Conquest but it is undeniably one of the most evocative sites of its kind, carved in part from the raw rock hillside of the Cerro de los Idolos.

Looking back over the village and valley, the ruins may be small, but they are undeniably impressive, the main structures and the stairways up to them partly cut out of the rock, partly constructed from great stone blocks. The most remarkable aspect is the circular inner sanctuary of the main temple or Cuauhcalli (House of the Eagle), hewn entirely from the face of the mountain. You approach up a broad staircase on either side of which sit stone jaguars in the centre an all but worn-away human statue would have held a flag. This was the setting for the sacred initiation ceremonies in which Aztec youths became members of the warrior elite, and there are images of warriors throughout: to one side of the entrance, a broken eagle warrior sits atop Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent; guarding the other side are the remains of a jaguar warrior, representative of the second Aztec warrior class.

The doorway of the sanctuary itself, cut through a natural rock wall, represents the giant mouth of a serpent the entrance was over its tongue, and around it traces of teeth are still visible. Right in the centre of the floor lies the figure of an eagle, and on the raised horseshoe shaped bench behind are two more eagles and the pelt of an ocelot, all carved in a single piece from the bedrock. Behind the first eagle is a hole in the ground where the hearts of human sacrificial victims would be placed, supposedly to be eaten while still beating as the final part of the initiation into warrior hood.

Other structures at the site include a small circular platform by the entrance, unfinished at the time of the Conquest, and a low pyramid directly in front of the main temple. Beyond this lie two larger temples. The first, Edificio III, again has a circular chamber at the centre, and it is believed that here Aztec warriors killed in battle were cremated, their souls rising to the heavens to become stars. Edificio IV was originally a temple of the sun; much of it was used to construct the church in the village. Below the pyramids, visible from about halfway up the steps to the ruins, you can see another prehistoric building nestling among the mountains. It’s still used by local residents as a place of pilgrimage each September 29: formerly a shrine to an Aztec altar-goddess, it is now dedicated to San Miguel.

On the way to the site, you pass the Museo Universitario Schneider (Tues–Sun 10am–5.30pm), a well-laid-out little museum of archeological finds from the area, many donated by local residents who unearthed them while gardening or working on their homes. There’s also a suit of conquistador armour, and a reconstruction of the shrine of Cuauhcalli from the site.

Services in the archaeological site Malinalco In the archaeological site Malinalco is a service module, box office, toilets, cloakroom and visits are also conducted tours appointment with the INAH Mexico State Center.

Hours Tuesday to Sunday from 10-17 hours.

Responsible archaeologist Malinalco Archaeological Zone archaeologist. Jose Hernandez Rivero.

Phone: 01 (722) 215-7080 / 01 (722) 215-8569 / 01 (722) 213-9581. Ext. 198031.

City of Toluca is 70 kilometers following the Tenango-Jajalpa way.

The easiest way to reach Malinalco is by bus or shared taxi from Tenancingo. Most buses arrive in the central plaza in front of the church of Santa Mónica, but those through to Chalma sometimes hurtle straight down Morelos, which bypasses the centre: ask to be dropped at the end of Hidalgo, which runs 200m to the zócalo. From Mexico City (Terminal Poniente), there are only three direct daily buses to Malinalco (2hr 30min), but departures every twenty minutes for Chalma, from where there are frequent local services.