The people settling in the valleys of modern Morelos around 1220 developed a highly productive agricultural society based at Cuauhnáhuac, the original name of Cuernavaca meaning Place at the Edge of the Forest.

When the Spanish arrived, the Tlahuica were fiercely loyal to the Aztec empire, savagely resisting the advance of the conquistadors. In April 1521, they were finally overcome, and Cortés torched the city. Destroying the city pyramid, Cortés used the stones to build a fortress-palace on the pyramid's base. He also built from the rubble the Catedral de la Asunción, another fortress-like structure in a walled compound.