San Juan, a “cabezera”

San Juan, a “cabezera”

This detail, numbered “3” by the artist/mapmaker, represents “Sancti Joana,” and is described as a “cabezera” (cabecera, a Spanish loanword, meaning “head town”). The church, as usual, is emblematic for the town, but we also see additional buildings of various shapes and sizes on the hill or mountain next to the main church, which is on the valley floor. Given that all of these towns are shown as occupying a hill or mountain, one suspects that this is a visual representation of the -tepetl of “altepetl” (principal Nahua socio-political unit). For a cabecera would have been an altepetl, rather than a tlaxilacalli (barrio or neighborhood). The main window above the arched entryway to this church is not a rose window, a difference when comparing it with many of the other churches of the other cabeceras. It does appear to have a clock tower. The pink or red coloring given to the buildings is common to all of these town representations. [SW]