Area H: Puebla and Tlaxcala

State of Puebla

The town of Cholula is readily accessible from the city of Puebla, and the archaeological zone is to be found at the town's heart.

History

Culture: Classic Central Mexico

Cholula had a long and varied history, during most of which it played a major role in the politics of Central Mexico. From two separate villages settled in 1700 BC, it grew to one of the largest towns in the region. Around 100BC, work was begun on the Great Pyramid itself and the city became an important ceremonial area. 

It appears that during the Classic era, Cholula's fortunes mirrored those of Teotihuacán's; it rose to be a great city alongside the larger centre and fell from grace around the same time. But archaeologists are split over what the exact relationship between the two cities was. Some hold that their close chronologies prove Cholula was a client state of Teotihuacán's. Others point to evidence of Cholula's survival after the empire's break-up to indicate that it had maintained its autonomy throughout the period.

Whatever the case, it is true that there was at least a residual population that persisted for some centuries after the demise of Teotihuacán. A group called the Olmec-Xicallancas moved into the area and added some of their own extensions to the Great Pyramid.

But Cholula's real renaissance occurred with the occupation by the Toltec-Chichimecas in 1168. With the aid of ties with neighbouring cities, Cholula not only maintained its independence against the subsequent Aztec onslaught, but also became an extremely important trading city. The Toltecs had brought the cult of Quetzalcoatl, which now made the Great Pyramid a focal point for pilgrims across the country.

The Cholulans made a fatal error when dealing with the Spaniards in 1519. Planning an ambush, the Cholulans invited the foreigners into the city, but when the plot was unmasked, Cortés unleashed a bloody massacre of the inhabitants. He then vowed to replace each of the city's 365 temples (one for every day of the year) with a church. His promise was never exactly fulfilled, but today nothing remains of the ancient part of the city except for the bulk of the Great Pyramid, which was saved because the Spaniards thought it a hill. 

For more about other East Coast Mayan Cities, see Cultural History.

Tour. (Scroll down to follow complete tour, or click on feature below and use your BACK key to return to map)

As we walk towards the archaeological zone set in the town centre, the shape which we had presumed to be a hill suddenly reveals itself for what it is - the Great Pyramid. 

From the site entrance, the prescribed route, led by a guide, proceeds to the tunnel entrance into the Great Pyramid. These fascinating labyrinthine passages and interior stairs were first built by archaeologists in the 1930s, but they reveal, to the trained eye, the numerous layers and successive shells added on to the Great Pyramid through the centuries. It was the cumulative number of additions that caused it to become so massive.

When we emerge into daylight, the path leads us around towards the south part of the site. In doing so we see, to our right, a complicated array of platforms and stairways with broken walls and irregular proportions. We are looking at the result of various different stages of construction, labelled Structures 4-6, now all excavated and laid bare, which creates a confusing sight.

    Structures 4 - 6

Moving on to its south side we can obtain one of the best views of the Great Pyramid. This 72 metre high mound is now overgrown and its definition only hinted at. No project yet has been undertaken to entirely excavate and restore it, a mammoth but rewarding task. A church was erected atop the pyramid in the sixteenth century. (The pictures in this tour were taken before the church was destroyed by lightning in 2001).

Great Pyramid and Plaza of the Altars   

The Plaza of the Altars marks this southern extent of the site.. Here, the bottom section of the pyramid has been restored to give some idea of what the whole might have looked like. We see some wide flights of steps and an interesting tablud-tablero designed wall.

    Plaza of the Altars: Detail

The plaza is so called because of several stelae and altars that line it. Of particular interest is Altar 1, on the east side of the plaza. This contains a restored stela with scrolled borders and other markings whose precise meaning is unclear. Just next to this can be seen a crude stone head and a lump of rock which was once a carved figure.

A pit on the south side of the plaza holds some skeletal remains of people ritually buried during the Post-Classic era.

    Burial Pit

To the west of the Plaza of the Altars we see another complex of overlapping structures, loosely termed as Structure 3, and beyond it another incorporating Structure 2. This holds a small, square, stepped altar and also some deep trenches marking the divide between different additions and showing the construction phases.

Structures 2 and 3 (seen from Great Pyramid)   

As we walk around to the west side of the Great Pyramid, we come across a section known as the Stage 3 Reconstruction that was almost entirely built by archaeologists. It consists of a large, pyramidal, stepped protrusion of three tiers.

    Stage 3 Reconstruction