Get to know Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico

Toluca, the capital of the State of Mexico since 1830, is located in a beautiful and extensive valley. Its name derives from the god Toloo Tolotzín and its founders were the Matlatzincas, who were conquered by the Spaniards, originating a new and interesting mixture of values; this conquest was consummated in 1520 by Gonzalo de Sandoval, who established the Villa de Toluca, which later became part of the marquisate of the valley granted to Hernán Cortés by Emperor Charles V.

The Toluca valley was populated by haciendas, mainly agricultural and livestock farms, in which pig breeding stood out and fostered the bacon and sausage industry, which to this day retains great renown. Toluca is well connected to the rest of the country with an extensive network of toll and free highways, as well as railroads and a functional airport.

Attractions in Toluca

Among the places of greatest interest in Toluca and with tourist attractions are the Portales, whose construction dates from 1832, with wide and long galleries opened by arcades with quadrilateral pillars joined together, considered the largest in the country. The Civic Plaza, called Plaza de las Armas during the colony and later, "Plaza de los Mártires", constitutes with its buildings a neocolonial complex; in it, the Government Palace, the Chamber of Deputies, the Palace of Justice, the Municipal Palace and the Cathedral are located.

The Morelos Theater, a beautiful neocolonial construction located at the end of the Civic Plaza; the Cosmovitral, a botanical garden located in front of the Plaza España, occupying the building that functions as the "16 de Septiembre Market", is an Art Nouveau construction that frames the extraordinary multicolored stained glass created by the Toluquean artist Leopoldo Flores; the Felipe Villanueva Hall, a concert hall that has enclosures where musical, theatrical and other types of events are held.

Among the squares and gardens of Toluca, the Alameda, Mallatzinca Park and Paseo Colón stand out, as well as Paseo Tollocan, with 27 km of green areas; Plaza España, where there is a monument dedicated to Don Quijote de la Mancha and Sancho Panza; Plaza Fray Andrés de Castro, with a large square in the center of which was the sacristy of the Franciscan Convent of the Assumption.

The Mexiquense Cultural Center is 8 km from the city of Toluca in the Antigua Hacienda de la Pilo; here you can admire a set of contrasting and modern buildings that house the Museum of Anthropology and the Public Library, it also has a guide service, parking, and restaurant.

The Alameda

A haven of tranquility in a city is always full of movement. The Alameda, also known as "Cuauhtémoc Park", is a space for recreation for residents and visitors alike. Among the gardens with leafy trees, walkways, and fountains, there is an open-air theater where cultural shows are constantly presented; in its central esplanade, there is a sculpture of the illustrious Cuauhtémoc, the last Aztec emperor.

Cathedral

To the south of the Civic Plaza, the Cathedral of Toluca rises majestically in a neoclassical style that reminds us of the ancient Roman basilicas. It has two bodies in its façade; the lower part shows niches with the images of San Juan, Santo Tomás, San Pedro, and Santiago el Mayor; the top of the second body is a pediment that represents the Ascension of the Lord. Built-in gray quarry stone, its main nave, and the two smaller naves form a Latin cross with a half-barrel vault. On the main altar, on the left side, there is a baroque facade of the XVIII century, which was part of the Church of the Third Franciscan Order of the Convent of the Assumption of the XVI century.

Church of the Holy Veracruz

The cult of the Black Christ of Toluca has its origins in the XVI century. The original sculpture was placed in the temple of San Francisco, but the number of devotees was such that a brotherhood called Santa Veracruz was organized to build a church for it. In 1753 the construction of the Santa Veracruz church began with a baroque style façade, which was completed in 1797. Originally the church was to have two towers; only one was built, in place of the other tower there is a clock that is decorated unusually. The interior of the temple is of neoclassical style. It is located next to the Plaza de los Mártires.

Church of La Merced

In the XVIII century, the order of the Mercedarios ordered the construction of this singular building because, its architectural styles of the XVIII, XIX, and XX centuries are evident. Inside the temple, the predominant style is neoclassical and gives a special atmosphere to the so-called "ribbons", ornamental carved and gilded motifs that decorate the walls. It has oil paintings of the great format of the XVIII century exposed and a pictorial representation highlights the figure of San Pedro Nolasco, founder of the order. Located on the street of José María Morelos y Pavón Pte. No. 812.

Historic Downtown

The heart of the Historic Center is made up of one of the oldest squares in the city, which used to be called Plaza del Carmen, next to the beautiful temple of the same name. In 1910 it was reopened with the name of Plaza España, during the time of the Revolution, spectacular fireworks were carried out. Every July 16, the traditional celebration of the Virgen del Carmen is held and the square is filled with food stalls and regional handicrafts. Other buildings that dress the historic center of Toluca can be found in the Plaza José María Heredia, the Plaza José María González Arratia, and the Plaza Cívica; beautiful corners of the city where traditional and modern architecture are combined.

The Portals

The first arches began to be built in 1832, later other sections were added to form a group of 118 arches. These are of the Carpanel type, that is to say, that they are arches with three curvatures and on each one of them there is a balcony. The average height is 11 meters. This gallery of arches, the longest in the country, has always housed old stores with the typical flavor of the city. From the portals, you can access the Plaza Fray Andrés de Castro. Located between Bravo Norte, Hidalgo Poniente and Constitución streets.

Fray Andrés de Castro Square

Next to Los Portales is the Plaza Fray Andrés de Castro with its modern passageway of the transparent roof, topped by a colorful acoustic shell, whereby tradition, every Thursday and Sunday there are concerts performed by the municipal band. This is the place to get and consume the typical sweets of Toluca and the traditional drinks such as "garapiña" and "mosquitos". From here you can also admire the chapel that was part of the Franciscan convent of the Assumption in the sixteenth century (now exempt from worship) and the sculpture of the former protector of the Matlatzinca Indians that gives its name to the square.

Cosmovitral Botanical Garden

This beautiful building of the Porfirian era that shows the art nouveau of the early twentieth century, with a metal structure that served as a market until 1975, is the Cosmovitral-Botanical Garden of 3,000 square meters of multicolored stained glass, considered the largest in the world, where the Mexican master Leopoldo Flores Valdez, interpreting the worldview of Dr. Jorge Jimenez Cantu, presents in his greatest work, scenes of the relationship of man with the universe. Inside it houses an extraordinary botanical garden with more than 200 species of plants from all continents. Located in the street of Juárez and Lerdo, near the Church of Carmen.

Numismatic Museum

This cultural space was created by the Government of the State of Mexico to preserve and disseminate the numismatic collection in its different periods of history, both at the state and national levels and some at the international level. It has nine museum rooms where this important heritage is permanently and chronologically exhibited. The first room begins with an introduction to numismatics, continuing with the room of pre-Hispanic means of exchange where barter was practiced; coins from the Viceroyalty, the independent period, the period of Iturbide and Maximilian of Habsburg, the establishment of the Republic, the Revolutionary period, the early twentieth century to the present day. The Numismatic Museum also has other rooms for temporary cultural exhibitions. It is located at 506 Miguel Hidalgo Poniente Avenue.

Mexiquense Cultural Center

This Cultural Center was conceived to be a space dedicated to culture, scientific research, leisure, and recreation. It groups the Central Public Library, the Historical Archive, the Museum of Anthropology and History, the Museum of Popular Cultures, and the Museum of Modern Art, integrating harmoniously the colonial construction with modern buildings. The Cultural Center also offers visitors green areas, parking, fountains, and esplanades that are used as open-air theaters. Housed in what was once the Hacienda de la Pila, just 15 minutes from Toluca.

Museum of Anthropology and History

Located inside the Mexiquense Cultural Center, this museum begins its tour with an introductory room to the ancient cultures that settled in the territory of the State of Mexico, followed by five rooms of archeology, seven of ethnography, and a room dedicated to modern history. It has a collection of more than 7,000 pre-Hispanic pieces that attract the attention of visitors.

Museum of Popular Cultures

Located in the building of what used to be the Hacienda de la Pila, this museum exhibits the diverse manifestations of the popular culture characteristic of the State. The rooms dedicated to craftsmanship stand out (magnificent collections of pottery, lapidary, wood, textiles, basketry, glass, and pyrotechnics, to name a few). As for traditional themes, there are halls dedicated to regional sweets, popular toys, and charrería; one of them is dedicated to the staging of a colonial kitchen, another to an old pulquería, and the space is specially dedicated to the clothing and daily life of the ethnic groups of the State of Mexico.

Museum of Modern Art

It occupies a modernist building that formerly was intended to be a planetarium. Its collection dates from 1910 to date, distributed in seven rooms chronologically and according to the most representative styles and pictorial currents of contemporary Mexican art. The museum's collection is made up of works by some of the most outstanding artists. This is a living museum because it presents multiple temporary exhibitions of great permanent artists in other museums. The Museum of Modern Art has an auditorium and multipurpose rooms for painting workshops and conferences. It has a bookstore where visitors can purchase art books, posters, and other publications.

Museum of Fine Arts

The building is a sober construction that once belonged to the convent of the Purísima Concepción de las Carmelitas Descalzos de la Nueva España, it was built between 1697 and 1711. Its thick columns, half-barrel vaults, and wide stone staircase stand out. In 1945 it was inaugurated as the Museum of Fine Arts; in its collection stand out pictorial works of renowned artists of the colonial era such as José Juárez, Cristóbal de Villalpando, and Miguel Cabrera. It has a valuable collection of viceregal furniture and sculptures; among them a funerary catafalque of the XVIII century. Behind the museum, it is worthwhile to visit the neighborhood called "El Cóporo" where the narrow streets, paths, and shortcuts framed by colonial-style houses take us back several centuries in time. Located at No. 102 Santos Degollado Street.

Felipe Villanueva Hall

This building preserves its original facade of the XIX century, but inside it has been remodeled and conditioned with ideal acoustics; it is the headquarters of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México, one of the most recognized at the national level, that every year offers seasons of classical music in this precinct. Located on the corner of Quintana Roo and Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon.

Luis Nishizawa Workshop Museum

This institution bears the name of the outstanding painter Luis Nishizawa Flores, who was an essential professor at the San Carlos School in Mexico City. The museum space consists of 7 rooms that exhibit a selection of his extensive pictorial work, still life, landscapes, portraits, and watercolors. The museum has a workshop where the master teaches painting students and has very complete documentation and information center on painting. It is located at Nicolás Bravo Norte. No. 305.

Watercolor Museum

It is one of the few museums dedicated to watercolor in the world. It preserves and exhibits works by artists such as Vicente Mendiola, Edgardo Coghlan, Ignacio M. Beteta, and Benito Noriega, among others. It has seven rooms dedicated to the watercolorists of Mexico, halls dedicated to donations and temporary exhibitions, a cafeteria, and a magnificent workshop where courses are given. Located at 105 Melchor Ocampo Street.

Museum of Prints

This museum has a collection of national and international prints from the XVI century to the present day. There are more than a thousand pieces among which stand out those made by internationally renowned artists such as José Guadalupe Posadas, Rufino Tamayo, Pedro Coronel, and José Luis Cuevas, among others. It has seven rooms and an engraving workshop where courses are given. Located at 305 Plutarco Gonzalez Street.

Felipe Santiago Gutierrez Museum

The house where this museum is located is an excellent example of 19th-century architecture, with doors and balconies framed by carved finials. The museum is dedicated to Felipe Santiago Gutiérrez, born in Texcoco, one of the first Mexican painters to win an international award. The museum has a collection of almost 225 works, including oil paintings, watercolors, drawings of genre themes, and portraits of the nineteenth century. The property is connected through a painting room with the José María Velasco Museum. Located in the street of Nicolás Bravo north No. 303.

José María Velasco Museum

José María Velasco is one of the most recognized Mexican landscape painters in the world; he studied at the Antigua Academia de San Carlos and was a student of the Italian painter Eugenio Landesio. Located in an elegant 19th-century house, the museum exhibits about 40 oil paintings.

Toluca Handicrafts

Toluca is distinguished by its leather and fur works, such as bags, sacks, coats, jackets, boots, and articles for charrería, as well as beautiful works in basketry. Furthermore, you can get handicrafts made throughout the state, beautifully crafted by skillful craftsmen from the state of Mexico.

The weaving of vegetable fibers

Palm weaving is also an ancestral activity and the most practiced in the municipality of Toluca since different groups used elaborate objects to facilitate their daily life. Basket weaving is the art of elaborating objects without previously spinning the fiber. The elements to produce them are an awl, a knife, and water, in addition to the creativity, time, and dedication of the artisan. The products obtained are baskets, baskets, wastebaskets, placemats, bread baskets, fruit bowls, hats, bags, and rugs. The towns of Toluca where the production of palm weavings stands out are San Pablo Autopan, San Cristóbal Huichochitlán and San Andrés Cuexcontitlán.

Textile

Wonderful products arise from the textile activity, either for clothing or for the home, in this artisan branch, which due to its originality and high quality has become an object of exportation. The main instrument used for weaving, especially in indigenous areas, is the backstrap loom, as well as two, three, and even four wooden needles. The raw materials most commonly used are wool, cotton, and silk; cotton is used to make fabrics such as cambaya and blankets, and then the finished pieces are complemented with ornaments such as embroidery or embroidery.

Lapidary

The stone acquires form and destiny when the artisan carves with his hands -rugged but skillful- a typical molcajete with its tejolote or a metate with its metlalpil, very traditional and ancient stone objects, still indispensable in Mexican kitchens. San Andrés Cuexcontitlán is the town that is particularly dedicated to this branch of craftsmanship.

Metalwork

The artisans of the Cacalomacán delegation skillfully transform tin sheets, brass, and wire to obtain unique artistic objects, which combine decorative and utilitarian character in pieces such as display cases, mirrors, jewelry boxes, cardholders, key holders, toys, and miniature bicycles, wagons, fairground games, and many others. The transformation of metals into handicrafts includes wrought iron to make lanterns, railings, bases for flowerpots, window frames and stained glass windows, keyrings, mirror frames, pictures, and many other items that embellish everyday life.

Otomi and Mazahua dolls

The traditional rag doll, with the clothing of the native cultures of the state, is a beautiful decorative item that is also a toy appreciated by visitors and tourists.

Saddlery

It is called saddlery to the craft activity that produces a variety of articles with leather and skin, such as wallets, backpacks, bags, belts, and huaraches, which combine their usefulness with the richness of the designs in which the creativity and work of each artisan are manifested.

Surroundings of Toluca

The Insurgente Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla National Park, better known as "La Marquesa", is located right in the middle of the road between the cities of Mexico and Toluca. It is a large wooded area surrounded by mountains of oyamel trees, a very busy place during the weekends, mainly for people coming from Mexico City, who come attracted by its natural beauty and the recreational and amusement facilities offered in this place, such as horseback riding, tracks for minibikes, barbecues, grills and sale of snacks. It also has a tourist information center.

The Zacango Zoo is 14 km from Toluca, on 48 hectares, there are 200 different species of animals from all over the world. Among its services, we can mention the rustic games, a pier, a craft store, restaurants, museums, children's zoo, wagon rides, and a park called Cri Cri of great acceptance among children.

Another important attraction, 44 km from Toluca, is the Nevado de Toluca or Xinantécatl Park, a beautiful inactive volcano whose summit can be reached by a dirt road to admire its two lagoons called the Sun and the Moon. You can spend the night at the magnificent lodge of the National Commission of Natural Parks, or enjoy a day in the countryside at the Parque de los Venados, both located on the slopes of the volcano.

At 10 km is Metepec, a beautiful town that has achieved enormous fame for the symbolic figures that are produced in it, the so-called trees of life, and the various figurines that contribute to the beauty of the nativity scenes that are mounted in December.

Tenango de Arista is 25 km away, where the beautiful archeological zone of Teotenango is located and is worth a visit.

Festivals and Fairs in Toluca

Among the main religious festivals and fairs celebrated in Toluca, is that of the Virgin of Carmen, a popular fair with Aztec dances or concheros, processions, mañanitas, fireworks, mechanical games, and the sale of antojitos. Worthy of note is the Alfeñique Fair, a deep-rooted tradition in the city of Toluca, which is held at the end of October and beginning of November in the portals, where a wide variety of sweets are sold, among which skulls, boxes of the dead and animal figures stand out.

Spring Equinox

An equinox is an astronomical event in which the two poles of the Earth are at the same distance from the Sun, and which gives rise to the change of season. During the year, the position of the Earth and the tilt of its axis give rise to two equinoxes and two solstices. In the case of the Spring Equinox, its ancestral meaning in almost all cultures of the world is the birth of a new solar year.

In our cultures, it is related to the agricultural cycle to sow or start a new life cycle. With this, we recognize that our life is linked to the land from which we obtain the products to subsist. Pre-Hispanic thought conceives the Sun as the God of Fire and of the Dead, charged with magic and wisdom, who propitiates evolution and brings forth the true man.

Procession of Silence

Celebrated on Good Friday, Catholic believers walk through the main streets of the downtown area to pray in silence, ask for forgiveness and be reborn in the hope of Jesus' resurrection. With a tradition of more than 30 years of celebration, more than 500 people participate in various brotherhoods.

Alfeñique Fair and Cultural Festival

The traditional Feria del Alfeñique y del Dulce Regional de Toluca, better known as the Feria del Alfeñique, has been held since 1989 to strengthen the millenary tradition of the Day of the Dead.

It is a very colorful and traditional fair that takes place in the famous Portales de Toluca that are called reforma, madero, and 20 de noviembre in the city of Toluca, which is located in the center of the city and surrounds the Cathedral Church of Toluca de San José. Usually, the Alfeñique Fair begins in the middle of October and ends on November 2nd.

The traditional Alfeñique Fair is distinguished by the sale and exhibition of the sweet of alfeñique and the region mainly, but it also has a cultural part where exhibitions, conferences, dance, music, theater, gastronomic shows, contests, concerts, book presentations, workshops and video projections, contests, and assemblies of traditional offerings of the region of the Toluca Valley and the State of Mexico some in monumental format, which makes it a very important fair in the region. All this enjoys a very familiar atmosphere that allows the knowledge of millenary traditions.

The sweets that can be found are the alfeñique in the forms of coffin, skull, cross, sheep, deer, bones, processions, angels, animals, fruits, even miniatures of typical Mexican dishes, as well as dulce de pepita in its different forms, different varieties of sweet potato and pumpkin in candy.

Also, acitron, crystallized fruits, skulls, bones, skulls, chocolate, sugar and amaranth, nougat candies, charamusca in its different forms, gummy figures in the shape of fruit and skulls, dulce de leche and jamoncillo, amaranth candy, coconut, tamarind, covered and caramelized besides piloncillo cookies such as puchas and puerquitos that are very traditional of the Day of the Dead celebration.

But we can find not only traditional sweets but also all kinds of seasonal decorations, such as tablecloths, guides, chopped paper flags, in different sizes, designs, and colors, cardboard figures alluding to the tradition, and everything necessary to assemble the Day of the Dead offering.

Gastronomy of Toluca

Toluca has an extraordinary gastronomic richness; among its most representative products are pork products, such as chorizo, ham, and sausage, among others. You can also taste the pork sausage known as Obispo, originally from Tenancingo. Famous are sweets made mainly with milk, such as envinados, morelianos, jamoncillos, lemons stuffed with coconut, chongos, and pepita sweets.

Crystallized fruits such as figs, orange peel stuffed with candy, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and others based on nuts, peanuts, and pepita. During the Alfeñique Fair, all these sweets are exhibited and sold, including those representatives of the Day of the Dead. As for drinks, there is a great variety of fruit liqueurs, mainly from Tenancingo.

Regional sweets

Toluca is the cradle of one of the sweetest traditions inherited from colonial times, which is the elaboration of traditional confectionery. For nearly 120 years, in the capital of the state, condesas, jamoncillos de piñón and cocadas, crystallized oranges and chongos toluqueños have been prepared. All of them are elaborated with artisan techniques that give them their flavor and quality.

In family kitchens, large copper pots are put on the fire to boil the milk that, in turn, becomes smooth jamoncillo or exquisite custard. There is no limit to the creativity of the sweet artisans. The recipes and the point have been passed down from parents to children for several generations, to preserve the tradition.

In places in Toluca such as Texcoco Street, in the Sanchez neighborhood, or the "alacenas" of Plaza Fray Andres de Castro, you can find more than 115 varieties made with 100% natural ingredients.

Pineapples, oranges, and figs; pistachios, almonds, and walnuts; rompope, liquors, and even tequila are incorporated as part of the flavor and aroma of the typical sweets prepared in Toluca. The sight of these delicacies is a festival of colors that awakens the senses.

Los Mosquitos

The "moscos" are an original drink from Toluca, which were born in the 1920s when Don Adolfo Almazán opened a small cantina called "La Miniatura"; in which he sold liquors of various flavors, among which the orange one stood out; since the parishioners who frequented the establishment said that this liquor had left them "stung". The drink began to be known as "los moscos".

Currently "La Miniatura" is a commercial establishment located in Portal Reforma, the "mosquitos" are available in different sizes and alcoholic content grades:

• "A" for ladies, - "AL" for young people, - "ALM" for men, and -ALMA" for mothers-in-law and adventurous throats for its 45° ALC.

On its façade "La Miniatura" displays a sign that reads: "Visiting Toluca and not bringing a bottle of Moscos is the same as going to Acapulco and not swimming in the sea".

Chorizo

Toluca is known as the Mexican capital of chorizo. This traditional sausage, a legacy of Spanish cuisine and conquest, took root in Toluca and, without planning it, became a symbol that identifies the municipality abroad.

The preparation of the traditional chorizo is made with first quality pork pulp, chili, tomato, garlic, onion, herbs, cumin (strong natural preservatives), salt, and pepper. The master butchers of Toluca know by tradition, the perfect balance between the quantities of the ingredients, to obtain chorizo to the taste of the palate of visitors and tourists, who are the main consumers of this sausage.

In a manual or electric grinder, the meat is placed with all the ingredients that give the typical color to the chorizo. Once the first grinding is done, it is seasoned with herbs - bay leaf, thyme, marjoram, and oregano - cumin, salt, and pepper. The mixture of meat and other ingredients is returned to the mill which, from that moment on, will act as a sausage filler.

As long as Toluca remains the chorizo capital, the preparation of this gastronomic symbol will continue to be passed down from generation to generation and the fame of the red and green chorizo will continue to carry the name of the city, even beyond national borders.

Huaraches

The huarache toluqueño is a blue or yellow corn tostada, cooked in a clay comal, and scraped in certain parts of the process to make it thinner. It is eaten accompanied by a spread of beans, cooked and chopped nopales, garnished with onion, cilantro, and fresh cheese, which is finally bathed with a spicy sauce of cooked and ground tomato and chile de árbol. In Toluca, the Huarache Fair is held, with participants from La Teresona, the neighborhood where most of the families producing this delicious Toluca food live.

Taco de Plaza

The traditional "taco de plaza" is considered by many a delicious dish to enjoy with the family. It is prepared with blue or yellow corn tortillas containing a rich mixture of pork rinds, creole avocado, nopales, serrano chile, tomato, onion, quelites, or quintoniles; some people add cilantro, papalo, and water potato, all sprinkled with heavy cream cheese. The ingredients to enjoy a delicious taco de plaza can be bought in any of the city's markets; or in the tianguis where they are an obligatory tradition.

Torta

Visiting Toluca and not eating a torta in the center of the city is like not having come to the capital of the state. Toluca is famous for its traditional variety of tortas de chorizo, "estopa", "bombas", chile macho, which you can taste in dozens of places, especially downtown, where visitors go to "La vaquita negra" located in the Portales and, the Toluca locals with the famous "Ojéis", installed in the Plaza Fray Andrés de Castro, just behind the Municipal Palace.

Garapiña

In the traditional "alacenas" located in the Plaza Fray Andrés de Castro, garapiña can be found at very accessible prices, it is a refreshing drink from Toluqueña, which has been made for more than 70 years, based on fermented pineapple, although the recipe is a family secret of its creators. This product must be bottled in wood, does not accept plastic or metal, and needs to stand for at least five hours, although some like a more fermented flavor and let it stand for more than 24 hours.

El Tompiate

The tompiate cheese is a traditional sausage from the city of Toluca that gives flavor to cakes and tacos, besides being an accompaniment, it serves as a succulent snack. This gastronomic delicacy is prepared with pork meat and pig's head, cooked and wrapped in tompiate, an interwoven palm basket, and it can be used to prepare various dishes according to the taste of the diners, but its main use is as a snack served with pickled chiles and onion or as a filling for cakes.

Las Alacenas

The aromas and flavors of garapiña, a typical Toluca drink, and the traditional tortas de chorizo, milanesa, and pierna, among other varieties, are intermingled in the alacenas of Toluca's Plaza Fray Andrés de Castro. To sweeten the atmosphere, there is amaranth with walnuts, figs, morelianas, wafers with cajeta, coconut-stuffed lemons, duquesas, nougat, and tamarind balls.

Currently, there are tens of alacenas offering examples of the local gastronomic richness, represented by tacos de obispo (sausage of Arab origin prepared with marrow, brains, lamb, and chile manzano), de cabeza, de plaza, or guisados, as well as tortas de estopa or shredded meat. In other alacenas, you can find all kinds of soft drinks, candies, and chocolates, as well as other useful items.

Mole

One of the most representative dishes of Mexican cuisine, it is the result of a slow culinary process that began in pre-Hispanic times and was perfected in colonial times, when Mexican cuisine was enriched with Asian and European elements. Currently, the city of Toluca is one of the largest producers of mole for the rest of the country.

As for its origin, legend has it that Juan de Palafox, Viceroy of New Spain and Archbishop of Puebla, visited his diocese and in a convent, he was offered a banquet, for the preparation of which the cooks of the religious community took great care, the main one of which was Fray Pascual, who stumbled near a casserole where some succulent guajolotes were almost ready.

Chili peppers, pieces of chocolate, and the most varied spices ended up there, "spoiling" the food that was to be offered to the Viceroy. A while later, he could not believe it when everyone praised the "accidental" dish. Toluca has incorporated some regional touches that make the local mole one of the typical dishes in the patron saint festivities.

Services in Toluca

Being Toluca an important international, industrial and commercial center, it has hotels from one to five stars, regional restaurants, travel agencies, transportation companies, entertainment centers such as nightclubs, theaters, cinemas, concert halls, exhibition halls, soccer stadiums, sports clubs, bus stations and everything the visitor may need to have a pleasant stay.