The municipality of Juchipila is located at an elevation between 1,800 and 2,700 metres (5,900–8,900 ft) in the Sierra Madre Occidental in southwestern Zacatecas.

Its upper citadel, set above sheer cliffs and accessible only by a steep and narrow stairway with switchbacks, features some of the finest stonework of its kind in all of Mesoamerica.

[11] Xiuhtecuhtli, the leader of Juchipila, was based at Las Ventanas (then known as Tlatlan or Tlaltan) when the Spanish first arrived in the area around 1530–1531.

[8] From 1548 to 1786, Juchipila was designated an alcaldía mayor of Nueva Galicia, its territory extending from Villaneuva in the north to Moyahua in the south.

[8][12] The municipal government of Juchipila comprises a president, a councillor (Spanish: síndico), and ten trustees (regidores), six elected by relative majority and four by proportional representation.

[2] Juchipila and its neighbouring municipalities have experienced high rates of emigration to the United States since the second half of the 20th century.

[15][16] The oldest festival in Juchipila is the Fiesta de Xúchitl, celebrated in June on the eve of the octave of Corpus Christi.

The tradition has pre-Hispanic roots and was originally dedicated to Xōchipilli, the god of flowers, music, song and dance, being celebrated near the summer solstice and at the onset of the wet season.