Tequisquiapan (Spanish pronunciation: [tekis'kjapan]; Otomi: Ntʼe) is a town and municipality located in the southeast of the state of Querétaro in central Mexico.

Tequisquiapan is part of Querétaro's Ruta de Vino (Wine Route) with La Redonda as the municipality's major producer.

These visitors come to see the parish church, walk the cobblestone streets filled with traditional houses, and visit recreational attractions such as the area's 18-hole golf course and spas/water parks (called “balneários”) such as El Oasis, Thermas del Rey, Fidel Velásquez and La Vega.

[1] The town is centered on the main square, named after Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and the Santa María de la Asunción Temple.

On the east side of the plaza, there is a kiosk made of gray sandstone and metal, which often has bands playing live music such as jazz and rock and roll.

[3][4] Along one entire side, there are sandstone arches behind which are a number of business such as galleries, cafés and shops selling sweets, silver, furniture and crafts.

These landmarks include places where Tequisquiapan's legends are set and on weekends and holidays, actors in period costumes re-enact these stories.

[3] Today, it is an area filled with Montezuma cypress and ash trees and is the site of the annual Feria Nacional del Queso y el Vino.

Louse Alley) is a historic street in the town which was recently renovated to promote fine arts and handcrafts as well as to serve as a venue for cultural and recreational events.

[1] The main chapel of the Barrio de la Magdalena has a large mesquite tree in its atrium where it is said that the mass celebrated to found the town occurred.

This event begins in the main square in front of the Santa María de la Asunción Temple and passes through the streets of the town to a site called Monte Calvario, named after the place where Jesus was crucified.

It is not known how or when this tradition started, but it attracts not only those from Tequisquiapan, but those from Santa Rosa Xajay, El Cerrito, Bordo Blanco and San Nicolás.

[1] The feast of Isidore the Laborer on May 15 is important in the town which is centered on a procession from the Santa María de la Asunción church to the El Llano chapel.

[1] The Feria Nacional del Queso y el Vino began in the 1980s as a means to promote the region's wine and cheese production.

[8] Most of the activity occurs at the La Pila Park, in the town center, but there are also cultural events, conferences, contests, charreadas, concerts and more associated with it.

In addition to conserving the areas flora and fauna, it proposes to offer activities such as rappelling, zip-lines, rock climbing, fishing and more, along with a museum dedicated to the archeological site.

[16] The name comes from Nahuatl and means “place of tequesquite (potassium nitrate)” a type of natural salt used to flavor food since pre Hispanic times.

The municipality's seal was adopted in 1989 at a contest held in conjunction with the annual Feria Nacional del Queso y el Vino.

This seal contains elements related to the area such as the sun, grapes, the Tequisquiapan River and the parish church of Santa María de la Asunción.

The main Chichimeca settlements were just south and west of the modern municipal seat, where fresh water springs were most abundant and the land was the most fertile.

With the pacification of southern Querétaro, lands in the area were redistributed among the Spanish and the evangelized Otomi, leading to three hundred years of intense agricultural development.

[7] In the decades before the Mexican War of Independence, Tequisquiapan experienced a number of small rebellions on area haciendas, by indigenous people whose socioeconomic status was still serf-like.

[1] The latter 20th century saw significant population growth, as the town transformed from a small traditional farming village to a popular weekend getaway.

[1][2] Near the river a number of fruit and nut trees are grown such as walnuts, peaches, pomegranate, avocado, apricots, limes, guavas and fig.

In the hotter, dryer lowlands vegetation such as pirul (Schinus molle), mesquite, palo bobo (Tessaria integrifolia), various types of cactus and arid land scrub.

Species such as deer, coyotes, owls, eagles and foxes have diminished in part due to the contamination of the waters of the Centenario Dam.

The vineyards are mostly planted with vines of French origin such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec for reds and Chenin blanc and Trebbiano for whites.

Today, other attractions of the town include its climate, the layout of its streets, the traditional facades of its houses and the variety of handcrafts and folk art available in its markets.

Typical dishes in the municipality include barbacoa made from goat, menudo, a type of blood pudding, mole Querétaro style, rice with the viscera of chicken or turkey, quesadillas with squash flowers or huitlacoche, carnitas, tamales and gorditas.

[4][6][23] The municipality tried to gain a line of credit with the government finance agency Banobras in order to improve the area's tourism infrastructure.