The name Tepexi el Viejo is of Nahuatl origin, meaning “split or steep rock,” or more specifically “high place or site with crags or escarpments.” The Tepexi el Viejo archeological site is located in the municipality of Tepexi de Rodríguez, in the state of Puebla. It is built on the extension of a low hill and is surrounded on three sides by deep ravines, one of which forms the bed of the La Xamilpan river.

According to the writings of the chroniclers, Tepexi was probably founded in the late twelfth century. It was thought to be a Mixtec-Popoloca fiefdom.

It was a pre-Hispanic settlement of the Postclassic horizon, built by the Popoloca to protect themselves from Aztec attack. It had an enormous fortified precinct, an area with large stone rooms and smaller buildings around these monumental edifices. This fortified precinct is the most spectacular part, thanks to the high rock walls which surround it. Inside the precinct there is clear evidence of residential areas, plazas, mounds and tombs reflecting the site’s importance.

The site was occupied by the Mexica at the start of the sixteenth century, although the style of the buildings retained typical Popoloca features. Sources mention the conquest of Tepexi in 1503.

The whole area was abandoned shortly after the Spanish captain Gonzalo de Sandoval conquered the extensive Popoloca lands.