Cholula

Since I had seen everything I wanted to see in Puebla, I took a bus to a neighboring city, Cholula. Cholula is famous for having 365 churches. That’s correct. There is one church here for each day of the year. I started my tour at Nuestra Senora de Los Remodios, which sits on top of a hill. It offers panoramic views of the city, and the three main mountains that surround Puebla: Popocatepetl (Po po ki TEP i till) and Iztaccihuatl (EEZ taw SEE wi till), and Merida. The church sits on top of the Zona Arqueologica, which houses the remains of the largest pyramid every built in Mesoamerica. The main attraction of Cholula, next to the plaza (zocalo), is the Convento de San Gabriel, which was founded in 1529. I’ve included a sample of the some of the other churches.

In this picture you can see two mountains: Popcatepetl (PO PO ki TEP i till) on the left, and Iztaccihuatl (EES tak SEE wi till) on the right. The former is active, the latter is not. Popcatepetl is 5465 meters high (17,930 ft) and Iztaccihuatl is 5230 meters high (17,160 ft). Legend has it that the warrior Popcatepetl fell in love with Iztaccihuatl. To woo her, he defeated his enemy in battle. Iztaccihuatl mistakenly believed he was dead. She then died of a broken heart. On seeing his dead lover, Popcatepetl turned both he and his lover into the two mountains that watch over Cholula and the lush Mexican basin. Neither is the tallest mountain in Mexico: that title belongs to Citlaltepetl (SEET la TEP i till), which is 5747 meters high (or 18,900 ft.)

This is a view of Cholula from Nuestra Senora de los Remedios, which is a church that sits on top of the largest pyramid ever built in the Americas.