Puebla Tehuacán

In the state of Veracruz one takes the road 131 through Teziutlán, bound for Atzala and Altotonga to find just within the state limits the population of San Juan Xiutetelco. Xiutetelco is a very small town without services of any kind, the fact that is close to the city keeps it from being completely lost in time. The attraction of this village is that it is based on a huge archeological zone, the basements of pyramids, now long covered by vegetation; still show the bodies of the pyramids architectural composition. On top of one of them is the tower of the church, as if the clerics wanted to show the triumph of their religion over the previous one.

Xiutetelco means "The Mound of God's Fire", or "The Mound of the Lord of the Year". Named for the god Xiuhtecuhtli who was said to have invented fire and who governed the calendar, the site was consecrated by prehistoric people, originally Totonaco, but dominated by the Nahua.

The structures date back to the stage of the next conquest, some the fifteenth century. Above one of the highest basements is a statue of the Virgin of Guadeloupe, a spot in which it could have dominated the entire population. Xiutetelco has a very symbolic museum with a collection of artifacts, some of them exceptional. Unfortunately despite official recommendations people continued to build on the site, which was in very bad taste as these pyramids are so remarkable.

With a little imagination, one can mentally reconstruct the ceremonial areas which must have been very spectacular; at least six high basements with staggered bodies, large ramps or stairs all crowned by teocallis painted in bright colors.