After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Franciscans and later the Augustinians made Culhuacán a major evangelization center, with the latter building the monastery complex which remains to this day.

In the mid 20th century, this canal was closed, filled in and paved over to create the current road.

[6] To this day, the residents of this area maintain a kind of rivalry with those from the historic center of Iztapalapa on the other side of the Cerro de la Estrella.

Both host passion plays during Holy Week and each has a small natural cave that contains an image of the buried Christ as a local pilgrimage site.

However, the area was considered by the Mexica to be an ancient religious and mythical place as a connection to the cultural past.

[8] The Ramírez Codex says that this city was recognized by the Mexica as a contemporary to the mythical Aztlán and of the ancestors of the peoples who were in the Valley of Mexico before the Aztecs.

[9] Culhuacan's prime was between the fall of Tula and the rise of Tenochtitlan, making it a major power in the Valley of Mexico for three hundred years.

[7] However, almost nothing remains of the pre-Hispanic settlement because it was completely destroyed, with the exception of the temple at the Cerro de la Estrella, which then became the center of the Aztec's 52-year renewal ceremony.

Cullhuacan was the subject of a Relación Geografica, a project by the Spanish crown to systematically gather data on indigenous communities.

[2] After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Culhuacan was selected as an evangelization center first by the Franciscans and then by the Augustinians.

[8] The current portico used to lead to the monastery's garden and originally served as an open chapel, then as a portal to receive pilgrims.

Behind these are wide corridors which lead to the kitchen, baths, dining room, refectory, chapter house, library, study areas, the church and confessionals.

[7] The upper cloister has twelve cells for monks now occupied by offices and halls of the site museum.

[7][8] The first hall is called the “Dominion of Culhuacan and the lake area” which contains ceramics such as plates and bowls, mostly of Toltec influence.

It is a pilot program of the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia dedicated to research, rescue and conservation of local cultural and artistic heritage as well as education.

[2][7][8] The Parque Historico was established to protect the remaining pre-Hispanic ruins along with a colonial-era dock and reservoir from when this area was part of the chinampa zone on the shoreline of Lake Chalco/Lake Xochimilco and later on the canal connecting it to Mexico City.

It is part of a reforestation effort in the area by Saul Alcantara Onofre of the INAH and contains native species such as Montezuma cypress and holm oaks .

[2][7] Culhuacan was home to the first paper mill in New Spain, constructed on what is now Avenida Tláhuac and began functioning in 1580.

The interior is noted for its rich ornamentation with gold leaf on the columns, capitals and areas of the ceiling.

In front of this chapel is the Plazuela de la Ancienidad which is dedicated to the memory of the fact that Moctezuma II granted the area to retired soldiers and government servants[5] Carnivals of Iztapalapa