In the Darkness of the Pyramid’s Heart

In Puebla you can find many historical sites, but that’s not all. It is also a city where you can buy fine pottery and typical Mexican clothes for very attractive prices.

If you are keen on pyramids, they also have one around. It is in Cholula and is a pyramid coved by soil and topped by a church with a few kilometers of underground tunnels that are accessible to the public.

It’s also offering a visit to The African Safari, where you can spend pleasant day with your children.

Quick Tips:

I am always trying to get the cheapest accommodation possible, so my choice fell on hotel Avenida, but when I finally got there, it was shut down, so I had to find somewhere else. The cheapest option was the hotel Victoria, with clean big rooms with a private bathroom in an old colonial house, which gives a good start to your stay in Puebla.

Prices vary depending on the season, but you can never get much cheaper, as the hotels are joined together and offer the same prices. There is a cheap option, with two people staying in a single (which is big enough), but when two people appear at the desk, they never have a single available, making you pay the price for a double. So if you want to make it cheap, pretend to be alone in the beginning.

Best Way To Get Around:

To be honest, transport in Puebla is chaos. Sometimes buses have their destination written on the front, but sometimes it is where they go from just because they were too lazy to change it at the final station. Apart from that, it is quite common that you get into the bus somewhere, and on the way back, it drops you somewhere else, as many streets are just one way. So the only way to get around is by asking, asking, asking.

When arriving to the city, be warned that the central bus station is quite far from the city centre, so you will have to take a bus to the cathedral. If you go with your private car, good luck! Apart from one-way roads and constructions everywhere, there is nowhere to park,

This pyramid is dedicated to Chiconahui Quiahuitl, the god of rain. The base of 400 by 360m is the biggest in the world. Cheops pyramid in Giza is more famous because it is uncovered and restored while Cholula pyramid is buried almost completely under the ground. During the investigations, it has been discovered that there are actually six basements laid above each other during six centuries of construction.

When Cortez (Spanish explorer and conqueror) arrived to Cholula, the pyramid was already covered with earth; the natives called it Tlachihualtepetl (meaning hill made by hand). It is the most ancient city in the Americas. Its name is derived from Cholollan (place of those who escaped) or Chololoa (water that falls). During the conquest, the Spanish noticed that that there was a hillock in the centre of the city that hid the pyramid’s base and so they decided to build on the top of this small church. This church is now the landmark of Cholula, shiny in the sunny days and shadowed when the days become shorter, dedicated to the Healing Virgin in 1594.

This archaeological site started to be explored in 1931 by Ignacio Marquina. After 25 years, 8km of tunnels were dug and seven bases were discovered. As you get out from the tunnel, follow the path around the pyramid and it will lead you to the archaeological zone as it is uncovered today. Follow the signs around the pelota ground and ceremonial hall. Just before getting to this zone, don’t miss the round altar on the grass that was used by ancient priests to sacrifice their victims. To win the favour of the god of rain, the victim had to be pure and young, so the choice fell on children aged 6 to 7 years old. Horrifying is it? You can still feel goose bumps all over you body while there . . .

Just about a few metres of tunnels are accessible for tourist, from 10:00am to 4:30pm every day. The entrance fee is 30 pesos, but it is free on Sundays.

Before submerging yourself in the heart of the pyramid, remember to pay a visit to the Archaeological Museum. Tickets can be bought next to the entrance to the tunnel and are valid for both (tunnel and museum). As you enter, in the middle of the main room you can admire a model of an uncovered Cholula pyramid that shows its inner layers. It is a very nice model, which helps you to imagine how huge the pyramid had to be when you are in the maze of tunnels.

In the cabinets around the room are exhibits from different cultures, from the oldest to the youngest ones. Cholula was first inhabited around 100 to 600 A.D. That’s the time when the pyramid was build by the Olmecs. Then it was taken over by Toltects (900 to 1300 A.D.) and even later by Aztecs. We can also observe some influence of the Mixtecs.

The best thing to see in here is hidden in a darkened hall, where there stands a replica of the butterfly wall that was revealed in the second stage of the archaeological investigation carried out here. Also, there is the replica of a wall of drinkers showing more than 100 human figures during a ceremony in honour of the Octli god (god of eau-de-vie).

When you get out of the museum and have finished exploring the tunnels, climb up to the hill for a really nice view of the city, where there is said to be so many churches that you can visit a different one every day for an entire year. If you are still not tired, head down to the main square (known, like everywhere in Mexico, as zocalo) and glance in to some of them.

This museum gives you a rough introduction to the history of the site and equips you for your own exploration, so give it a go. Let’s see what can be revealed in the darkness of pyramid’s heart. The museum has the same opening hours as the tunnels, Monday to Sunday from 10:00am to 16:30pm. Admission is 30 pesos, but is free on Sundays.

I was hitchhiking around Mexico and was about to meet some friends in DF. I still had few days left, which was not enough to move to another city and too much to just hung around the city. Bored beyond belief, I decided to go for a tour to African Safari; observing animals always cheered me up, as they have a majestic beauty we can hardly comprehend.

I purchased my ticket in the corner of the park, in front of the cathedral. For 150 pesos, I was promised to get a coach from cathedral to African Safari and ride around the safari included in the entrance fee and coach back. Safari provided its own bus, and we got a nice young lady explaining all that we could see around. The park is placed in the nice zone of Valsequillo, 16.5km from Puebla. It is extended over 3,000 hectares and separated into different sections to provide home to 3,000 animals from 250 species.

In more then 1 hour, you will see the calmness of giraffes, the majesty of lions, and the tranquillity of tigers. If the windows from the bus weren’t so dirty, you would be really be able to enjoy almost direct contact with all these wild animals including rhinoceros, chimpanzees, bears, and others. In the middle of the tour, the bus makes a stop at a souvenir shop, where you can buy also some refreshments. After the tour is over, you continue to the local zoo. Apart from parrots flying everywhere, there are other zoo animals, and you can also see the butterfly house and the bat cave, which I found especially interesting.

At the end of the day, I was feeling much better than before, but to be honest, it is not a real safari. It is just like a better zoo, where you can take you children or where you can spend extra day off. So it’s up to you, your desires, your time . . .

In 1531 the Spanish came to this valley overlooked by majestic volcanoes Popocatepl and Iztaccihuatl and founded a city called Puebla de los Angeles (Village of Angels).

The Spanish introduced new materials and techniques to the production of pottery, for which the city is famous up to nowadays. The city grew very quickly into an important Catholic centre. In 1575 Francisco Beccara and Juan de Cigorongo designed the cathedral, whose image appears today on the 500-peso note. Its construction was very slow, and when in 1626, the king stopped the flow of money into this project, only the chapel and a few pillars were built. The funds were renewed again in 1634, and the Metropolitan Cathedral was finally consecrated on the April 18, 1649 in a ceremony so huge that none like it was ever seen in all New Spain again. The cathedral definitely deserves admiration. It is spectacular from the outside (the towers are 70m high, which makes them the highest in Latin America), and once inside, you can admire the creations of the finest artists of the age. The cathedral is open to public everyday from 10:00am to noon and from 4:15 to 6pm.

To continue the tour around the city’s most beautiful sites, follow street 5 de Mayo to where it intersects with 4th Poniente, where you will find the Temple of San Domingo. The Chapel of Rosario has been called the eigth wonder of the world and its golden polychromatic interior, dating back to 17th century, is still the best jewellery of the city. It is open from Monday to Sunday, 8:00am to noon and 4:30 to 6pm.

Don’t forget that the city is also famous for its tiles. One of the best examples of this still can be seen if you follow 4th Oriente until the Boulevard of Heroes del 5 de Mayo. Turn left and keep walking until you see on your right the Temple of San Francisco, with its tower and beautiful brick-and-tile facade. Even if the temple was damaged during the earthquake in 1999, it’s still a building deserving admiration. Apart from that it’s a place that attracts lots of worshippers, San Sebastian de Aparico (who planned the building of many Mexican roads before becoming a monk) is buried in here.

There is much more to visit in the city, but if you want a bit of nature instead, then hop on a bus to Cerro de Guadalupe that will leave you at the top of the hilly park, where a crumbling an old fortress can be visited as well as acres of lush parkland. The day passes quickly in Puebla while walking from one site to another as distances among them are not short. Every street has many colonial buildings and some little churches, so while exploring Puebla, make sure you have enough time to experience it calmly.