Mexico » Travel Photography » Three Pyramid Sites: Tula, Xochicalco, and Manzanilla
Let’s take a look at some pyramids! For my first blog covering pyramids, I chose three sites that are each very unique, and also very different from each other: the Tula Archaeological Zone, the Xochicalco Pyramid Complex, and the Manzanilla Ball Court.
After traveling through fifteen Mexican states with my husband, I found myself with a grand total of 3,000 travel photos! I have them neatly catalogued, but my challenge has been to simply figure out the best way to share them in an organized fashion. I’ve decided to split between sharing travel photos on this photo blog, and our Benton Homestead » Uprooted page, based on which one the subject matter seems to make the most sense for. Upcoming blogs will include more pyramids (Teotihuacán, and the Great Pyramid of Cholula), various Pueblos Mágicos, and also PaperShoot Camera photos.
On a personal note, we’ve now been enjoying village life in San Andrés Huayapam for six weeks. It’s in a wonderful location, just a short distance outside of Oaxaca city, Oaxaca. Our third and fourth house-sits are back-to-back, which will give us a total of ten weeks in this village, right on the edge of mountains, forests, hiking and mountain biking areas. Oaxaca happens to be our favorite (so far) for both climate and cuisine.
Zona Arqueológica de Tula
First, let’s take a look at the Tula Archaelogical Zone in Tula de Allende, Hidalgo, Mexico. This pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican site is theorized to have been the center of the Toltec empire, which was a short-lived but gretly influential, reaching its height between the fall of Teotihuacán (65km away) and the rise of Tenochtitlán in present-day Mexico City (70km away). The Toltec Empire fell and Tula was destroyed around the year 1150 AD.
I feel so blessed that we had the whole pyramid complex completely to ourselves. It had been a long day of driving, and we made it to the site a little later in the afternoon than we intended. But as soon as we arrived, all the wind came back to our sails, and we explored every inch of the site! Visitors are allowed to walk to the top of the Pyramid of Quetzalcóatl to inspect everything up close and personal. You can see the original steps to the top of the pyramid here, along with the repaired steps during excavation.
The most striking visual at this site is the 13-foot tall basalt Toltec Warriors. The site suggests that the pyramid and other structures were once covered with similar elaborate carvings.
The warriors themselves, and the carved pillars, are quite impressive!
After getting over the initial awe of finally seeing a historic pyramid structure for the first time, I was left with the impression that the basalt warriors and pillars seem quite out of place, as they’re the only black basalt structures in sight. It seems curious that the warriors appear to be mixed-and-matched; some of the carvings continue seamlessly from one stone to the next, but some of the carvings are completely misaligned where they meet with different colored stones. Combined with the fairly rough-looking attempt at repairing damaged corners, it creates an almost completely patchwork look. It’s almost as if there were once many more statues and pillars, and these are just the pieces that remain, put back together as best as possible. The suspicious side of me finds it odd that such intricate carvings are oddly misaligned.
Please understand that my critiques of reconstruction and repair in this (and future) travel posts are in no way a judgement of Mexico. We love Mexico, obviously. I’ve read a lot of history, and have been fascinated with historic sites since childhood, specifically pyramids. I completely understand that reconstruction and repair issues, along with censorship, corruption, and even destruction of ancient sites, is a worldwide issue. Heck, I even taught myself how to read Egyptian hieroglyphs, so whenever I eventually travel to Egypt, I can read the inscriptions and come to my own conclusions. But I digress.
Here we see the view from the top of the Pyramid of Quetzalcóatl, showing how closely modern civilization has crept to the footprint of the complex; this is the remains of the structure referred to as the Burnt Palace. Also, like every pyramid site we’ve visited, there appears to be more of the site left unearthed.
Zona Arqueológica de Xochicalco
Second, let’s take a look at our personal favorite of all the pyramid sites we’ve seen (so far): the Xochicalco Archeological Zone near Cuernavaca, in Miacatlán, Morelos, Mexico. This is another pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican site that is theorized to have been founded in 200 AD, by the Mayan traders Olmeca-Xicalanca. However, it’s suggested that the site didn’t become an epicenter with an estimated population of 10-20,000 people, until 700-900 AD. In my reading of the history, there seems to be some debate as to whether or not the Tula site (previous photos) and the Xochicalco site are related. There’s also speculation as to whether or not the the people of Tula or the people of Xochicalco were involved with the burning and destruction of Teotihuacán, which occurred sometime between the wildly debated time period of 550-900 AD. Xochicalco was burned to the ground, completely destroyed and hastily abandoned, approximately 900 AD. This is the view of the pyramid complex, as you approach.
We were both impressed by how massive the complex footprint is. As we explored, the site just kept going and going. In addition to this, there are multiple areas visible in the distance that the public isn’t allowed to see. And sadly, the observatory cave was closed, which was used to study the movement of the sun.
This site, like nearly every other pyramid site we’ve visited, had some seemingly random large carved stones lying around, much larger than the stones visibly used in the construction of the pyramids themselves. You can see the two large dark stones quite a distance away from this structure. Stones like these appeared discarded in clusters throughout the site.
We nearly had this whole site to ourselves as well, but I was appreciative of this man in the distance, to help show the scale.
This site is really extraordinary in that it’s very clearly laid out like a whole city, with areas for living, as well as large open public spaces. Not to mention, the incredible view! It’s not difficult to see why they chose to settle here.
This is an example of how the excavators repair damaged pyramids, and this seems to be fairly consistent throughout the sites we’ve visited. You can see the smooth stones comprising most of the pyramid, and how they contrast with the different areas of rough stones. These rough stones seem to be placed over areas that are potentially at risk of further erosion. Some sites we’ve seen simply chose to cement over erosion or destroyed sections.
I took this photo with my zoom lens, as visitors aren’t allowed in this section, which could be seen off in the distance. The structure in front is a traditional Mesoamerican ball court (Teotlachtli), of which this site has three! That’s a lot of ball courts. If you look closely, you can see the two large circular carved stones, which are the “net” for the compact rubber ball to go through, using only their legs, hips, or elbows. See the end of the blog for a visual aid!
Here you can see that the circular carved stones are actually quite large and key-shaped, as this would presumably help lock them in place during construction. These are large enough (or nearly large enough) to be considered megalithic, yet the majority of the complex that’s visible is built using smaller stones. Curious. It’s also curious as to why these extra ball “hoop” stones are found lying on the ground. Every other ball court we’ve personally seen has been a very regular design, but this ball court is a less familiar design, with high walls and very narrow ramp.
Which brings us to the most striking visual at this site: The Temple of the Feathered Serpent. This structure was reconstructed in 1910, and features a mix of influences from both Teotihuacán and Mayan art. Note that it shares the same name with a different Temple of the Feathered Serpent at Teotihuacán. Historians admit that, while the outside facing stones were fairly obvious as to how they fit together, the reconstruction of the inside is incomplete.
I find it particularly interesting that, right next to the structure, we see a pile of additional carved stones, just like the facing stones used in the reconstruction. These have, presumably, been sitting here since the reconstruction in 1910, along with the other random piles of carved stones scattered throughout the site. Since this site was noted as having been completely destroyed a thousand years prior, it’s safe to say it’s very possible that the reconstruction might have left a lot to be desired, as far as accuracy!
Zona Arqueológica de la Resurrección la Manzanilla
Lastly, let’s take a look at the Manzanilla Archeological Zone in Puebla, Puebla, Mexico. You’ll see immediately that this is quite a different site, and all that’s left is the traditional Mesoamerican ball court, with a park built around it. I came across the Manzanilla site when planning our time in Puebla, as there are numerous pyramids in the area. I mapped out a short day trip to hit up a handful of sites within the city. Long story short, it was a frustrating day, as many of the historic sites are being engulfed with urban sprawl and lack of protection. Two of the other pyramids we set out to find, I can’t even show you photos, because they were completely destroyed and homes had been built on top of them. Research on the sites proves difficult, as they’ve never been fully excavated, there are only a few news articles that mention them. The articles I was able to translate tell a sad story of people rallying together to try to save the historic sites, only to have them destroyed.
Sure, I knew Mexico had a lot of pyramids. But I had no idea Mexico has such an astronomical number of ancient structures that some very cool sites are completely discarded! Can you imagine?? Back to this Manzanilla site, as we stood on this ancient structure, all I could think about was: This is a ball court. A ball court requires a city with at least a certain number of inhabitants. How much was destroyed to build this modern neighborhood? What secrets are under all these homes and businesses?
I learned from this article that “Until 1964 these pyramids were in good architectural condition. Subsequently, the buildings have suffered notable deterioration, mainly caused by human action…The Hacienda de San Diego Manzanilla has the remains of 15 or 16 pyramids, practically destroyed, which unfortunately have suffered successive looting at different times…These buildings belong to the Classic (200 to 900 AD) and Postclassic (900 to 1500 AD) periods. In 1965 the ball court was intervened for its reconstruction, which is why it is currently the best preserved building on the entire site”. Historians argue that what remains of this site may be associated with the people who built Teotihuacán, and therefore this may be the earliest example of the Mesoamerican ball court in existence. Yet the only reason it remains standing today is because a small group of people fought to build a park here, apparently with their own funding, thus preserving the land from the obviously encroaching urban construction.
I’d like to share another quote from this article, because I couldn’t possibly say it better myself: “Preserving archaeological zones is everyone’s task. We must not forget the legacy of great cultures that taught, generation after generation, the importance of respecting nature and everything around us. Its greatness is represented in the worldview that fed the essence of each of the constructions that are still preserved, despite the indifference to our history. They are not just ruins that have been forgotten, it is our past, our essence; it is an encounter with our own identity, a fundamental part of our culture as Mexicans”. #PreservemosLasZonasArqueológicas
Lastly, with all this talk of the Mesoamerican ball game, here’s a visual example of the game being played. This was taken at the Quetzalcóatl Festival held on the Spring Equinox in Cholula, Puebla, Mexico.
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Dani & Evan Benton | Benton Homestead | www.bentonhomestead.com
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Dani Benton | Dani Benton Photography
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