It is located approximately 13 km (8.1 mi) to the south of the capital of Morelos, Cuernavaca, on the southern outskirts of that city's greater metropolitan area.
Spanish evangelization began in the 16th century, including the construction of the monastery of San Juan Bautista (St. John the Baptist) and the Hacienda of Santa Catarina in Chiconcuac.
[1] In 1848, indigenous from Xochitepec were sentenced to garrote vil (a type of torture and execution) for rebelling against Hacienda Chiconcuac over a land dispute.
In retaliation for Zapata's 1913 manifestation calling Victoriano Huerta an usurper, General Robles burned Xochitepec and other towns in Morelos.
[4][5] On March 27, 2019, former Atlacholoaya municipal police officer Juan Carlos Reyes Lara was found guilty of the kidnapping of the teacher Albino Quiroz Sandoval.
[13] Xochitepec boasts a weekend handicrafts market in its Zocolo the Centro Cultural Xochitepequense with a library, historical archive, and workshops sponsored by INAH; the "Magic Town" of Chiconcuac; hotels including a 4-star hotel in Puente; the Parque Científico y Tecnológico del Estado de Morelos (Scientific and Technological Park of the State of Morelos); the Mariano Matamoros Sports Center; and two waterparks.
[12] Centro Cultural Xochitepequense houses the Doctor Emeterio González Museo del Campesino (Peasant Museum).
Cuisine includes white pork pozole, Barbacoa de Chivo (barbecued goat), Fish tamales, Spicy mole (from Atlacholoaya), and fruit-flavored ice cream from Alpuyeca.
[14] The main ceremonial center is atop an artificially leveled hill, with remains of residential structures, mostly unexcavated, on long terraces covering the slopes.
In June 2006 a research team from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) began excavations at Zazacatla, a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site located within the municipal boundaries.
The INAH team led by Giselle Canto reported finding evidence of Olmec cultural influences at the site.