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Last Updated
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MEXICO
-- Cholula in the last years has been taking over from Puebla
City as the place to go on a Friday and Saturday evening. |
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| It attracts younger poblanos (people
from the state of Puebla)
for its much more accessible prices, especially for a beer and
light snack to the tune of live trova music underneath the arches,
and it appeals to tourists of all ages and nationalities for
its relaxed pace. The rhythm of life in Cholula provides a contrast
to the city of Puebla which is choked with traffic during the
day and not wholly comfortable by night – with parts of
the center dark and deserted and most of the action going on
along Avenida Juárez.
Established touring patterns used to whisk visitors in and out
of Cholula as a morning or afternoon trip from Puebla. This
made sense because the later city was better served by hotels
and eateries, and had so many sights -- churches and chapels,
ex-monasteries, talavera factories, the great Palafox library,
the famous kitchen where "mole was invented," museums,
tiled facades, sweet shops -- you cannot see them all even in
a long weekend.
CHANGING PATTERNS
Contributing to the rise of Cholula, it that the smaller city's
infrastructure has soared and established itself in the last
two years. Where there was one dingy and overpriced central
hotel under the arches, one conference-type establishment with
pleasant gardens but too far to walk from the zócalo
(and not cheap), or the pricey Club Med by the archeological
site, now there is an international quality hotel
which runs excellent tours, offers discounts to scholars and
is the favorite place to eat -- even drawing people from Puebla.
Useful and clear signposts went up two years ago, a simple touch
that makes a huge difference.
Before, you would get to Cholula and no one knew if there was
a tourism office, but would kindly point you in the direction
of the Gran
Pirámide de Cholula, the world's largest in
volume. The result was that this was often the only sight visitors
would see. The location of the site museum, on the other side
of the road and a few steps further out of town, and poor signposting,
would mean that many visitors who scaled the pyramid didn't
even know the museum existed – even though their admission
ticket covered both places (Zona Arqueológica del Gran
Pirámide de Cholula, Calzada San Andrés, at Calle
2 Nte., Tel: 01 – 222 – 247 9081. Open 9am to 6pm).
Now there is a local museum, called Casa del Caballero Aguila,
on the corner with the zócalo (4 Ote. #1, Tel: 01 222
261 9053, open 9am - 3pm, closed Sat. and Mon. $35 pesos, admission
free Sun. and Thurs). Visitors no longer miss out on the Ex-Convento
de San Gabriel, or San Gabriel Friary (1540), with its huge
Moorish-style "Capilla Real" (1575) with 49 domes
and seven naves. The Monastery here is still inhabited by about
15 Franciscan monks who in 1986 agreed for part of their building
to be renovated and converted into Cholula's Franciscan
Library, a spellbinding place that can be visited on advance
request.
There is greater awareness of nearby treasures, in particular
the two colonial churches of Sta. María Tonanzintla (famous
throughout Mexico for its indigenous work and imagery) and San
Francisco Acatepec (with one of the best preserved polychromatic
facades in the country). They are only about 15 minutes away
by car and the tourism office will help people find their way
there if they do not have their own wheels (Dirección
de Turismo Municipal de San Pedro Cholula, Tel: (01) 222 - 261
2393, Calle 12 Ote, esquina 4 Nte., San Pedro Cholula. Open
Mon. – Fri. 9 – 7; Sat and Sun 9 – 2).
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PUEBLA AND CHOLULA
Another change in recent years, with urban spillage and soaring
road traffic, is that Cholula is no longer a comfortable 15
minutes from Puebla, but often half an hour, and sometimes the
journey takes more. Even though it is still an affordable taxi
hop away from Puebla, this is yet another reason to linger in
Cholula rather than treat it as a hit-and-run destination.
Puebla is an outstanding tourism attraction, almost overwhelmed
with treasures, but it is also a major city. Cholula is relaxing;
you take a deep breath, you look at the sky, you do not feel
you have to hurry.
This is in part because of the huge zócalo, one of the
largest in the country, whose wide space maintains a calm and
stateliness that cannot easily be invaded by cars or even vendors.
It also has a rural ambience, especially in the attractive area
of San Andrés Cholula, the more indigenous parish, which
is poorer but at least as rich in tradition as San Pedro Cholula,
with which it competes (Dirección de Turismo y Archivo
Municipal, Gobierno Municipal de San Andres Cholula, Tel: (01)
222 - 247 8606 ext 205, Avenida 16 de Septiembre 102, San Andrés
Cholula).
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LEGACY
Cholula is full of Prehispanic legacies. For example, visitors
with a sharp ear might soon notice that the town's ten
neighborhoods retain their Pre-Hispanic title, politely preceded
by a newer Christian name, such as San Miguel Tianguisnahuac
or Santa María Xixitla. These names roll poetically from
local tongues – abbreviations are almost never heard.
Because the Indian nobility of Cholula – or Chollollan,
as it was before – was converted in the first wave of
the new colonial order they were allowed certain privileges,
such as wearing western clothing, riding horses and using the
title of "Don". As a result of this, and other forces
consolidating local pride and tradition, many Cholutecans still
use their pre-Hispanic surnames, often combined with a Spanish
surname, such as former town stewards, Raymundo Tecanhuehue
López and Humberto Tolama Tototzintle.
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MAYORDOMOS
These stewards or "mayordomos" were established
as part of the Spanish town council, and their power is still
alive in many towns of the Valley of Mexico. However, in Cholula,
the town chronicler still refers to the barrios as calpulli,
the pre-Conquest political organization of neighborhoods.
The durability of such traditions and the strength of the positions
of stewardship will escape the eyes of a casual visitor. But
if you visit Cholula on either of its two major fiestas, September
8th (when the Virgin de Los Remedios is lowered from her Sanctuary
and carried around Cholula in a series of processions) or around
November 30th (the day of San Andres) you will notice a fervor
and density of social participation that make an immediate impact.
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VISITING?
LOCATION -- Cholula is located in the state of Puebla |
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TRANSPORTATION -- Authorized
taxis cost around 80 pesos from CAPU (Puebla's main bus
station) to Cholula, and about 100 pesos to return.
RECOMMENDATION -- For those interested in
the 2,000-year endurance of this ancient city, look out for
the beautifully illustrated book: Cholula: The Sacred City by
Anamaría Ashwell.
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AUTHOR
Barbara Kastelein
has PhD in literature from the University of Warwick in England,
and has published her writings about Mexico for ten years in
Mexican, British and U.S. publications. |
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