Mexico: 2017: Mexico City and Surroundings
Cholula: Great Pyramid, Museo Regional de Cholula. Puebla: Bibliotheca Palafoxiana, Museo Ampara. Tlaxcala
Cholula: Great Pyramid, Museo Regional de Cholula. Puebla: Bibliotheca Palafoxiana, Museo Ampara. Tlaxcala
Apr 20-21: Cholula, Puebla. It is said that the city of Cholula has 365 churches, either one for each day of the year or one for each pre-Hispanic temple that used to be there.[17] In reality, there are "only" thirty seven churches.
The other major architectical attraction in Cholula is the Great Pyramid of Cholula. It is the largest archaeological site of a pyramid (temple) in the New World, as well as the largest pyramid by volume known to exist in the world today (is is significantly shorter than the Great Pyramid of Giza's height, but much wider).
Museo Regional de Cholula, Mexico. Great collection of folk art, especially the exhibit of alebrije. Alebrijes originated in Mexico City in the 20th century, in 1936. The first alebrijes, as well as the name itself, are attributed to Pedro Linares, an artisan from México City (Distrito Federal), who specialized in making piñatas, carnival masks and "Judas" figures from cartonería, an ancient and widespread papercraft often confused with papier-mâché. He sold his work in markets such as the one in La Merced. In 1936, when he was 30 years old, Linares fell ill with a high fever, which caused him to hallucinate. In his fever dreams, he was in a forest with rocks and clouds, many of which turned into wild, unnaturally colored creatures, frequently featuring wings, horns, tails, fierce teeth and bulging eyes. He heard a crowd of voices repeating the nonsense word "Alebrije". After he recovered, he began to re-create the creatures he'd seen, using papier-mâché and cardboard. Eventually, a Cuernavaca gallery owner discovered his work. This brought him to the attention of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, who began commissioning more alebrijes. The tradition grew considerably after British filmmaker Judith Bronowski's 1975 documentary on Linares.
Apr 21, 2017: Bibliotheca Palafoxiana, Puebla, Mexico. Founded in 1646, it is recognized by the UNESCO for being the first and oldest public library in the Americas, It has more than 45,000 books and manuscripts, ranging from the 15th to the 20th century.
Apr 22, 2017: Tlaxcala.
Cacaxtla. Contains a sprawling palace with vibrantly colored murals painted in Maya style. The nearby site of Xochitecatl was a more public ceremonial complex associated with Cacaxtla.
Apr 21-22: Museo Ampara, Puebla, Mexico. It has one of the most important collections of pre-Hispanic, colonial and modern art in Mexico, with dates of pieces ranging from 2,500 BCE to the present day, covering the pre-Classic period to the Spanish Conquest. The collection contains jars, figures, steles, altars, sculptures and utensils, from the Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Huastec, Totonac, Maya, Olmec, Chichimec, Mixtec and Aztec civilizations:
Late Classical, 600-909 AD
Toltec, Postclassical, 1345-1521 AD
Chicozapote, Late Classical
Quetzal, early Classical, 200-600 AD