CHOLULA'S TOURISM
CHOLULA'S FOUNDATION LEGEND

“…During the deluge times, lived on Earth the giants, most of them died submerged under the water, some of them turned into fishes and only seven brothers saved themselves on the caves of the mountain of Tlaloc. Xelhua, the giant, went to the place that later was called Cholollan and with great “adobes” made in Tlamanalco, (very distant place) and passing along hand by hand, began building a pyramid in memory of the mountain in which he was saved.

As the work threatened to touch the clouds, irritated Tonacatecutli, father of all the gods, threw to the celestial fire, and with a stone toad shaped, killed many of the constructors, and for this reason, the work couldn't advance more. The artificial hill still exists, and testifies the power of Xelhua.

GEOGRAPHIC UBICATION AND ACESS ROUTES

It is located at almost 8 kilometers from the West side of the City of Puebla; they are connected by a very modern road of two lanes, or the old federal road that also connects with the Capital of the Republic, visiting attractive places such as the City of Huejotzingo,Pue. To take this road, if you arrive by the highway Mexico-Puebla, you should go by the side of San Martin Texmelucan, Pue. Passing also by the International Airport Hermanos Serdan, which is another option of entrance.

Another route of access and communication with the State's Capital is the railroad, which station is actually very close to the great pyramid of Cholula and gives you the opportunity to transport to the south side of the states of Puebla-Morelos.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Cholula's valley was inhabited 500 years B.C. Building in it pyramidal constructions, since the beginning of this age until the XVI century each ethnic group printed its architectonic characteristics. It was ceremonial center of the Anahuac.

Hernan Cortes, on October of the year 1519, when he committed the genocide, according to indigenous and Spaniard monks' chronicles, observed the City and said he has seen 2,000 beautiful houses with towers.

On October 27 of 1535, Felipe of Spain gave the warrant, and Carlos V, the Emperor, granted to Cholula the title of “CITY”. On June 19 of 1540, Carlos V, the Emperor, and his mother Juana, conceded a coat of arms, leaving the great city under San Pedro's avocation.

“Cholula” has been translated from the Nahuatl language as “Water that falls in place of escape”. It was the settlement of Olmecas, Mixteco-Zapotecos, Toltecas and Teotihuacans groups, and also crib of the Cholulteca culture. It is about 2200 meters high from sea level, in front of a beautiful landscape of the everlasting snow-covered volcanoes Popocatepetl and Iztaxihuatl.

Precisely, the Toltecas were the ones that formed here the Anahuac's major ceremonial center, turning Cholula into “The Sacred City”.

Around the evangelization times, they decided to build churches on these pre-Columbian centers, such as the Sanctuary of “Nuestra Señora de los Remedios” (“Our Lady of Remedies”) , built on the peak of the Great Pyramid Tepanapa, a monument built by the Olmecas, and dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl, and that probably dates from the VI century, and has greater dimensions than the Sun's Pyramid in Teotihuacan, with about 65 meters high, and 452 meter by each side.

Today, because of its 2 500 years of the continuous inhabit, it is considered as the oldest inhabited City in Mexico. Also, it stands out among its numerous archaeological and historical monuments, and the Great Pyramid , as the one with the largest volume in America.