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Cholula Puebla Mexico

Photography by Bill Bell

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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 Cortes' arrival in Mexico, Cholula was a thriving economic and cultural center with over 100,000 inhabitants. The Cholultecas thought Cortes to be Quetzalcoatl and yielded easily to his demands. In spite of the easy conquest, Cortes' men 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.
 

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*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.