Cholula Puebla Mexico
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Photo Journal
Photography
by Bill Bell
Click on any photograph to view in larger format
Cholula, early morning, I drag my self out of bed and look out the window
at the empty Las Americas Trailer Park...its going to be a sunny day. The last two
times I was here it was cloudy, today the light looked right to take
pictures of one of Mexico's lesser known marvels, Cholula. The Great
Pyramid of Cholula is noted for being the largest of its kind in Mexico,
larger not only than
Teotihuacán's Pyramid of the Sun but also far more massive than the
Egyptian pyramids in terms of volume.
My first visit to the area was back in the late 70's when my good friend
Dr. Gutierrez from Puebla introduced me to the area, taking me on a
whirlwind trip, visiting Pulque* Bars, cock fights and just about every
machismo diversion one could imagine. On that visit my camera had jammed,
now 25 years later I returned.
Cholula's prominence dates back over 2,000 years with archeological sites
in the vicinity yielding links to the Teotihuacán and other local cultures.
At the time of
Cortés' arrival in Mexico, Cholula
was a thriving economic and cultural center with over 100,000 inhabitants.
Cortés recognized the absolute beauty of the
city however after discovering a secret plot, the conquistadores destroyed the ceremonial temples and built
churches in their place.
Cholula at one time had a church for every day of the year. The spires of
these can be viewed as mounds from the top of the Cholula Pyramid, on which
a church was also built. In actuality, there are close to forty churches in
the area.
I was told that from Las Americas it is a short cab ride, a long walk or
a cheap bus ride to the Pyramid located a few blocks from the town's Zocalo.
All of which is true, except when you hop the wrong bus going in the
opposite direction. If this kept up I would lose my treasured early morning
light, but we flag a cab and arrive at the base of the Pyramid as the sun
peaks its head above a distance volcano. Its rays highlight the freshly
painted church built on the pyramid.
With Dorothy I begin the climb up, stopping every few feet to take
photographs of the ever changing vistas of mist shrouded churches, volcanoes
and farms. It is a magical time and the photographs once again prove that
with a little effort and luck with light it can make the difference between
a good photograph and great one. We climb higher until we reach the top,
marveling at the arrogance of the Spaniard's choice of a location for a
church....right on top of the Pyramid.
*Pulque is a milky, slightly foamy and somewhat viscous beverage made by
fermenting (not distilling) the fresh sap of certain types of Maguey. The
Pulque Bars are restricted to men only and what they lack in cleanliness
they more than make up for in character. Any other beverage made from
distilling the cooked Maguey is Mezcal, and if it is manufactured in the
Tequila region from a numbered distillery, it is Tequila. Only one species
of Maguey is allowed by law for tequila production, the agave Weber (the
Blue Agave). There are many species that can be used for good mezcal, and
six or so varieties will yield the basic juice for flavorful Pulque. |