The origin of Xalapa, as the of many other ancient cities of Mexico, dates back to pre-Hispanic times. Its foundation and existence as nucleus of population has been topic of discussion, and although not yet exhausted, documentation and bibliography that exist in this regard can give a very rough idea of the beginnings of this city.
The village was located in the region Kiel Leopold called "of the great mountains", a geographical area of about 12 thousand square kilometers between the Gulf Coast and the Highlands.
Huaxtecas, totonac, settled there during the Prehispanic era, popolocas, Toltec, nonoalcas, chichimecas and teochichimecas that moved each other until that took place in Aztec expansion.
They suggest that the population already existed in the 12th century. One of the provinces called altogether Xalapa or Xallac i.e. "place of sandy waters" was inhabited by indigenous groups which were Quad: one to the North, totonac, named Xalitic, the second to the East, Techacapan, probably due to populations Mexica; the third to the South, Tehuanapan, tolteca chichimeca origin; and the fourth Southwest Tlamecapan, teochichimeca.
To 1553, date in which Antonio de Mendoza, first viceroy, came to rule the new Spain, Xalapa was considered as point of scale needed, and eventually acquired greater importance because the heat and the unsanitary conditions traditional from the port of Veracruz forced travellers, politicians, military and merchants use said population as a temporary residence.
If any moment of its existence only Xalapa was a forced scale for people travelling between the port of Veracruz and the city of Mexico, is currently one of the most important cultural centers of the country.
