Source: WTL photo© (2009) taken on site in Amecameca, México.
Comments: Aside from its own intrinsic value as a fine small modern Mexican city, Amecameca is a prominent site for the Humanities of Latin America course because (1) it is the place to which Hernán Cortés and his force of Spanish conquistadors descended in 1519 after they had left Cholula and crossed the mountain chain between the twin volcanoes Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl; and (2) it is the city where Juana Inés de la Cruz studied in the Amiga school as a girl. The two photographs above show the typical layout of a colonial Spanish-style city: the church and the seat of government are on opposite sides of the central plaza.