La Magdalena Contreras (Spanish pronunciation: [maɣðaˈlena konˈtɾeɾas] ⓘ) is a borough (demarcación territorial) in the Mexico City.

The borough takes its name from the La Magdalena Atlitic, one of four communities with pre-Hispanic roots, and the Contreras neighborhood, an area noted for its textile mills until the 20th century.

With the rise of the Aztec, the Tepanec were conquered and the area was renamed Atlitic—stone that drinks water—after a large rock which rose above a small lake.

[5] After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Dominicans established a town and church dedicated to Mary Magdalene and changed the name of the area to Magdalena (de) Atlitic.

[6] At the end of the 18th century, a group of Spanish industrialists founded a textile factory which caused an increase in the economy and the population of the area.

[4] By the end of the 19th century, the river was powering four textile factories named El Águila Mexicana, Tizapán, Santa Teresa, and Loreto.

[4] These factories produced wool, cotton and cashmere thread, and cloth of various types and by the end of the century had the use of the Mexico City-Cuernavaca rail line for shipping.

[5] The Mexico City-Cuernavaca rail line continued to operate through most of the 20th century with train "501" noted for carrying famous passengers between the two destinations.

It is bordered to the north, south, and east by the boroughs of Álvaro Obregón and Tlalpan with the State of Mexico to the west.

[7] Magdalena Contreras lies in the southwest area of the Valley of Mexico along the lower eastern slopes of the Sierra de las Cruces which is a volcanic mountain range.

[7] Principle canyons and ravines which are located in the center of the borough include Tlalpuente, Cainotitas, Atzoma, and Tejocote.

The most important springs are Pericos, Mal Paso, Apapxtla, Las Ventanas, Cieneguillas, Los Cuervos, and San Miguel.

Some of the water is captured at a section of the Los Dinamos park to be treated at a plant but the rest flows down to the floor of the valley.

Much of the wastewater flows openly which has contaminated local streams, the Río Magdalena, and the supply of drinking water.

A number of ravines and some of the higher altitudes have species adapted to wetter climes including Alnus jorullensis, Salix bonpladiana, Fraxinus uhdei, Buddlei cordata, Pronus capuli, and Taxodium mucronatum.

In the pre-Hispanic period, fauna was highly varied; however, many species, such as wildcats, wolves, coyotes, anteaters and many others, are no longer found due to human settlement and habitat loss.

These illegal settlements also generate a large number of dumps of solid and liquid waste into ravines which pollute the water supply.

[10][11] Efforts to combat these problems include relocating those residing in illegal settlements and developing ecotourism and other programs for those that own rural areas of the borough.

The church has a Baroque facade with raised patterns, fronted by a stone paved atrium which has a fountain with an image of the Archangel Michael.

It was founded in the 16th century, but the current structure was built in the 17th by the Contreras family, owners of the El Águila mill.

It contains a large mural by Ariosto Otero called El viaje del siglo veinte (Voyage of the 20th Century) that features the "501" train.

These include the civic plaza, the municipal building, and the Centro Cultural La Magdalena Contreras, which is in a former 1940s movie theater .

[16] Magdalena Atlitic was declared a Barrio Magico with a "tourism market" located just outside the entrance to Los Dinamos.

It has an area of 2,429 ha (9 sq mi) that encompass a series of canyons formed by streams that eventually empty into Río Magdalena.

[3][15] The San Bernabé Ocotepec Ecotourism Park is located on the Cajetes and Meyuca mountains next to the community of the same name.

It is 337.1 ha (1.3 sq mi) of pine and oyamel fir forest and was established in 1998 to block the advance of urban sprawl.

The Mazatepetl Eco-archeological Park is located on the San Bernabé Ocotepec ejido on a large hill called Cerro del Judío.

The Day of the Cross (May 3) is a popular festival in the borough, especially in the La Cruz neighborhood and the Cerro de Judío.