Cuetzalan en Todo su Esplendor: Un Recorrido Inolvidable por su Centro Histórico

Cuetzalan en Todo su Esplendor: Un Recorrido Inolvidable por su Centro Histórico

Surrounded by the greenery of the Sierra Norte de Puebla is Cuetzalan, one of the oldest and most beautiful towns in Mexico, here the past mixes with the present, its people still maintain their traditions that they have forged since pre-Hispanic times. We will walk through its streets. cobbled

Together with the Nahua women to the rhythm of their skirt, we will enter their churches to admire the fervent faith that accompanies their inhabitants. We did this tour accompanied by the best cultural guide Julio Diego who, with love for his land, reveals to us the magic of Cuetzalan ,

A community recognized by the World Tourism Organization as one of the best towns in the world. Welcome to Cuetzalan, today we are going to start the tour of the historic center. This building is dedicated to San Francisco de Asís. It is the oldest parish in the Cuetzalan region. The people undoubtedly worked hard

To make this construction. It lasted many years , and everyone participated. The people of all the communities between the mountains and the people who live here in the historic center , initially the quarry from the upper part of the Apulco River was used , it is limestone, the local stone

Which is what Cuetzalan is mostly built with , which is a We also see a very emblematic stone in the streets and on the backs of the houses, here in San Francisco de Asís We had a first chapel for evangelization in 1545 and then a church was built as such from 1790,

Only the tower remains which currently serves as the municipal clock was the exterior bell tower of the second church, and from 1905 a new building was built, which is what we are seeing at this moment totally eclectic due to the architectural characteristics it has if we look at the main entrance

That has arches semicircular and some round columns that support the main arches that are at the entrance. In what is the region of Cuetzalan, the Totonacapan manor was once the lordship here in San Francisco. It is very likely that there was a teocalli,

Which is why the first chapel of Totonacapan was built here. Teocalli is a main foundation of the archaeological zones where the It represented or where the most important rituals of each pre-Hispanic city were carried out. Téotl, which belongs to God, we call it teotzin and Calli is house: House of God

And San Francisco de Asís were built like the main teocallis, the spine is perfectly to the east and the The main point facing the west in ancient cultures is how the Sun walked from east to west and so that the part of the sun at sunset would exactly reflect its main teocalli

For the sunset, the last light. We are now inside, we have San Francisco de Asís on the main cypress because he is the patron saint of Cuetzalan, if you look at the interior it is very monumental, the sacred way, for example, when you walk through it, it impresses you,

It is one of the most impressive buildings. heights within the state of Puebla after the Cathedral. Please take me to Guatemala. Look how pretty a burrito is. The church of San Francisco de Asís is very large, you feel a lot of spirituality here, it is very beautiful. Something that caught our attention

Inside the church were the monumental wax candles that are very traditional in Cuetzalan. The waxes are like a kind of crown that they dedicate to the saints, to the patron saints of each town. I think it is very characteristic of Cuetzalan . Patron saint festivities take on a very important value

For indigenous communities. Something that I like is that when you come to mass you can still find the ladies dressed in their huipils and some of them sing songs in Nahuatl in honor of their God. I believe that the indigenous communities in Mexico

They are among the most Catholic that can exist in the world, they are very fervent, very devout, this is how we can find syncretism, what is syncretism? It is the combination of ancestral beliefs with Catholic beliefs. It is the butler’s wax as such, they are made in the workshops of the master artisans

Who work with the wax . Now it has certain very contemporary characteristics. Previously, the wax was all yellow, it was from the native bee. The waxes decorate the mayordomías festivities that combine religious ceremonies and dances in honor of the saints. A mayordomía is when you take the patron saint,

You celebrate his party on the day it is his turn, you have to get everything that the church is, you have to arrange it with flowers with waxes because for example the butlers who make the patron saint ask him certain attention towards their families,

Health, the economy, it is a celebration of the saint. This was the one they occupied on October 4 in the celebrations of the patron’s fair and if you notice, like us, we have a very special plume here that is from a dance called quetzalines but it is not as widespread as flyers

And always in the center They put the patron saint to whom it is dedicated and it is known as the wax of stewardship. On Sundays, a mass is celebrated in Nahuatl where you can appreciate the inhabitants who have not lost the custom of dressing as their ancestors did.

In the church of San Francisco de Asís there is a mass in Nahuatl, we invite you to come and listen to it and find comfort in this homily. Also something that caught our attention at the mass was how the father dedicated a prayer to the flyers,

They went to the altar of the church and began to dance around the altar. The fliers receive the priest’s blessing to have a peaceful flight. The sacred pole for the flying ceremony is located outside the parish. Here in our region of Cuetzalan in all the church atriums we have a flying stick,

It is normally used for the patron saint festivities to venerate the patron saints, here in Cuetzalan we have the best known but within the communities we also have our flying sticks. flying sticks for our patron saints in the case of Santiago Yancuitlalpan since it is dedicated to Santiago the Apostle,

Yohualichan to the Virgin of Carmen, etc…. Look how thick this flying stick is. The flyers prepare to perform the ritual ceremony, each dancer will fly rotating 13 times around the stick, a figure that multiplied by the four flyers gives a total of 52

And that number is special in the calendars of the native peoples since it is completed every 52 years. a solar cycle after which a new sun is born, a new era begins and life continues its course. And on Sundays it is safer to see the Cuetzalan flyers.

We just saw them. It was a beautiful experience. It is a Mesoamerican tradition. Not only is it celebrated in Cuetzalan , there are also the Papantla flyers, the flyers from our sister Guatemala. Even in Chiapas and in In the south of the United States you can fly,

If you realize there are four flyers who have a direction to the cardinal points north south east and west, the clothing they currently use is red that represents the heat of the sun, they also have mirrors on their cap that reflects the flashes of light

As if they were the sun illuminating the earth and they did this because it has a relationship with agriculture, they asked for better crops and they were also a thank you from nature, it is an ancestral tradition and before the clothing was very curious They had beautiful bird feathers

And this region was known for being a path where there were many birds. When I went to the Papantla flyer school I discovered that it takes up to 11 years for them to become a Papantla Flyer, that is why it is very important that we continue to support this tradition

And value all the effort they make because they practically risk their lives every day. After the ritual dance of the fliers we continued walking through the main square of Cuetzalan. Who did I say over here guys? I bring rich and tasty gelatin, are you going to want it or not?

Do you want me to introduce myself? He is the one who said I, it says it on the box, it is the verse, boy, I bring delicious gelatin and my boy hugs, is he going to want it, isn’t he going to want it? There’s strawberry, there’s coconut, there’s grape, there’s lemon, there’s flan…

Who said I’m kids? Let’s see girl, here’s your delicious flan, this boy is recording it, it’s going to cost him double. Let’s try the flan from: Who said I want a flan. You will want? if you want. Yes it is very good. Try it, try it, the flan, the flan, delicious…

Will you want it? We already want or how do you say? Thank you. Give it, give it. We are in the main square, we have on one side the municipal clock that was placed in 1910 for the celebration of the independence of Mexico and we have our main park

Where this municipal kiosk is located. Here we can see the municipal palace in the background. The character at the top is Cuauhtemoc Xocoyotzin , the last important Mexican Tlatoani in the conquest of Spain with Mexico . The region of Cuetzalan was already inhabited before the Spanish arrived, in fact since ancient times,

Which is why in this entire region of Cuetzalan we have ancestral roads and very special places and archaeological evidence that shows and supports that it has been inhabited in ancient times due to the Totonaca culture, which dates back to 200 to 1200, has never stopped occupying the Cuetzalan region.

Master, you who know the language , what does Cuetzalan mean to you? Well, it means place of precious feathers because in ancient times or in pre-Hispanic times Cuetzalan has ancestral roads where precious feathers surely traveled for the copals of the Tlatoani rulers of the center of the country,

Then they carried out commercial exchanges by bartering, in this region there were many beautiful birds. It was what was most practiced in bartering. It makes sense because we are in an ecosystem where birds abound and all have beautiful feathers. You can imagine that it is named

In honor of the beautiful birds we have here. This town is definitely going to be one of my favorites because it is a town where you can really feel the Nahuatl culture, you see so many people speaking their language that it really transmits the culture to you, it is beautiful…

Sundays are flea markets and there is everything. even roosters and turkeys. How much does a rooster cost? Where does the rooster come from? From here on the way to the breezes. Grab it Lili, that’s all. I want to catch him there. We are here in the Cuetzalan market

And we found that we can buy a rooster to take home and make chicken broth, 370 this beautiful rooster that is very calm. What is it fed? Corn, some waste. This eating organic. Oh what a beautiful rooster. I think Cuetzalan has already become one of my favorite towns in Mexico

Every Sunday we can find the ladies going to buy their things for the whole week, their pantries and there are very interesting things, very delicious, look at this delicious mango that we are eating There is also corn and products that come from all the surrounding mountains.

People come down with their products and sell them. Let’s see what we find. Well, I have Creole cinnamon from here in the region, look, it is very good, I also have ground cinnamon, I have pepper from here in the region , whether in balls or ground, beans and it is regional,

It tastes very delicious enchilado with sesame and chipotle or It also has chiltepin, the chiltepin is also from here in town, it tastes very good. Some colorful typical sweets attracted us with an also sweet saleswoman. Typical sweets made with firewood are cocadas, zucchini, macaroni, desserts, wrapped, gullet…

Here in Cuetzalan you will be able to find like this mural that is in the background in several of the alleys. Important people who have left their mark on our Mexico were also born in Cuetzalan. In this house that we are seeing in the background is the house where Paco Michel,

Great author and performer of Cuetzalan, was born . He has made music such as Sangre de Indio, Ay Chavela, The Adventurer: I like the tall ones and the short ones… Visit Cuetzalan ! Now we will go to the oldest cantina in town, it is very traditional. Welcome to Calate. El Calate since 1910.

El Calate is a traditional cantina and it is a family cantina because we have the privilege of being here in the center of Cuetzalan. Fortunately, we are very recognized. I am the fourth generation, along with my mother and my family, we have continued working, the parents My grandmother’s

Were the first owners of the first store, they had everything, they sold everything, guaraches, liquor supplies, the grandparents died and my grandmother decided to continue selling liquor in the 1950s or so, by 1973 my father who is the youngest son took the reins of the business and it became a cantina

Of course it was always a traditional cantina because men women families visit us, as you can see there is nothing obscene on the contrary we have continued with the tradition it has been the meeting point since many years. On the wall they have some posters that exalt the town

Like these flyers who came to dance in France. The best was in store for us: the yolixpa ancestral drink of Nahuatl heritage. The traditional drink of Cuetzalan is yolixpa, it is a pre-Hispanic drink, it is an infusion of medicinal herbs: wormwood, lemon balm… a natural remedy that is for the stomach,

For heartburn, for a scare, a very strong impression and it is a drink that the recipe has not been altered and we have tried to preserve it since my grandmother’s parents. There are two, the strong yolixpa and the sweet one is just as we take it from the herbal rest

And the sweet one which is a little softer. This drink is called yolixpa which in Nahuatl means yolot: heart ixpa: forehead. And in the communities they usually greet each other like this. In front of the heart. Because of lovesickness. This one we have here is a little bit sweeter

And this one a little bit more like bitter. Bitter literally tastes like herbs with alcohol, but I think it’s a good digestive. Cheers to our friendship. No, I’ll stick with the bitter. This is my first time visiting a cantina and the truth is that it had a totally different image.

The atmosphere here is super familiar. It has many cultural pieces, we can see art, images of the flyers, it is a very good place to meet local people, especially on Sundays. . Let’s toast with this delicious yolixpan, health to the heart. Right now we are going to prepare what is the coffee torito,

Which is a cocktail based on ice, liquor, evaporated milk and ground cinnamon on top . You will only be able to find it here in El Calate and we add a touch of ground cinnamon, which is cinnamon. from here in the region. It is delicious, it has sweet tones

And the coffee liqueur tastes very smooth. This is the traditional drink here from El Calate, it is made with coffee liquor. By Cuetzalan. By visiting Cuetzalan you will have an experience with me so that you can visit special and traditional places where only the community can visit,

In this case El Calate, we are here living with the yolixpan, the torito and my visiting friends Salud. El Calate de Cuetzalan since 1910. At the El Calate bar they told us hasta mosta which is a mix between Spanish and Nahuatl and means see you tomorrow.

We went out to the main square of Quetzalan where some feared but beneficial friends were waiting for us. Here we have the beautiful boa imperator that lives in the dense vegetation of Cuetzalan. I present to you Raúl, he is part of the biocultural tours and awareness

About what the snakes are in this region. I am currently carrying out a project focused on environmental education with species in the area, mainly reptiles, focusing on snakes since we often have certain negative attitudes towards these species. In my hand is a boa imperator known locally as masacuata or in Nahuatl as mazacoatl,

Here within Cuetzalan because it keeps a mystery in relation to agriculture, with corn because it is considered the guardian of the territory, apart from that there is a belief here It is of utmost importance that it helps the conservation of this species if it is found within or near bodies of water .

If one manages to kill these snakes , the crops tend to disappear because there is an increase in the population of snakes or snakes. of pests, these animals are biological controllers within crops , so that is why it is important to conserve them, protect them and also know what to do

When we encounter this type of snake. It does not have any venom. It is a constrictor . It catches its prey using its backward-facing teeth. It uses the strength of his muscles to kill the prey Like this, with his arms like this. I just don’t want him to squeeze my neck. Oh bastard.

The residents looked at the scene astonished. Please, my face is getting closer, can you take it away from me. Here the important thing is that you should not be afraid, you should control your emotions, reptiles in snakes do not perceive fear but there are negative actions that your own fear drives you,

Such as wanting to throw away the snakes that approach your face, they are animals Don’t worry, the first sound she’s going to make when she feels stressed is she’s going to start snorting , so it’s a sign that you’re stressing me out, you’re squeezing me, let me go

, but still, by capturing those signals, we must control the fear. When I control the fear, I start manipulating her . And where can we find this species? where is its distribution? It is distributed in all the states that border the Gulf of Mexico. Master Julio, what does Masacuata mean in Nahuatl?

It means snake, deer, it has a whole relationship in the sense of the Macehuatl worldview that we have in this area, mázatl is deer and coatl is viper or snake. A kiss to the boa. He approached him. Raúl, what do these snakes eat, how do they feed?

In the wild, they feed on bushes, birds, small mammals, and small birds. As the species grows, their diet varies. They reach approximately 4 meters and when they are large, they feed on rabbits. Not all of them are fed. days it is fed once every 15 days, twice a month.

Raúl and why are you doing this? what is the name of your project? It’s called guardian of nature as it’s on Facebook, The purpose of creating this figure of Guardian of Nature is to raise awareness, it is to provide environmental education, about the importance that these animals have in the area,

Because we should not kill them . And what to do when we find a snake? When we find this type of snake, specifically the masacuata, if we are in a work area, on the ranch, in a field, doing agricultural activities, then we can find it in logs, we will find it coiled,

We can grab some orchettes from any stick, Of course, they are resistant and remove them, and take them to a work area where the specimen is not in danger. We must see a way not to damage them. Raúl, I know that in Mesoamerican times this species was revered Yes, in fact yes

And not just this species but other genera of crotalus, which are the rattlesnakes, we have Quetzalcóatl, the feathered snake Kukulcán too , but here in the region the masacuata We consider it as the guardian of the territory. Where I have cornfield crops, there will be abundance.

Because of the same way in which it controls the populations of redores, the same farmer also avoids the use of agrochemicals or pesticides . It has a very important cultural part. And you know, if you find a massacuata in your crops, don’t kill them because they help you kill the mice.

See the magic of a snake’s movement, you can feel the contractions throughout the snake’s entire body. The snakes were very important in the architectural inspiration, all these little squares that it has are the niches that represented the important teocalli above all, for example, these little squares that are like dark niches

That represent darkness and the part with color is the part of the representation of the light of the sun that is Tonatiuh, then it practically has the relationship of what the cornfields are and the relationship of the crops and the 20-day calendar is inspired by all these harmless animals

That the ancient pre-Hispanic people loved and loved them and They loved them. United by the same venom This snake is one of the largest that exists in our country and it is beautiful. In Cuetzalan you can find it in the most humid places, not in the cloud forest

Because it is a colder place for it, but in the lowest parts, remember. Cuetzalan is very diverse in geography, it ranges from 200 m above sea level to 1500 m, that is, it is very different. In the humid jungle where we can find this baby

That extends from this area of ​​the country to the south, it is gigantic. , boa imperator Raúl showed us the small yellow-bellied snake which is poisonous. And she tells us that it is a little poisonous but it is not of medical importance. We can see here that she is calm

And the important thing is that we come with an expert . What did you study? Engineering in sustainable regional development. Always handle it with experts, he has a purpose, he does not have them as a pet, he has them to create environmental awareness, also if they find them in the field,

We must let nature not capture them as a pet. If it bites us, the symptoms we are going to have are: local swelling, dizziness, headache, it will last approximately 3 days and from then on it won’t go away, you don’t need to be hospitalized or anything. Always with experts. Of course always.

And with purpose. I invite you to follow the Guardian of Nature page on Facebook, you can find information about the snakes that we mainly find in the field. Then we went to the house of culture where the Calmahuistic ethnographic museum is located. We welcome you to our house of culture

, we can go to the ethnographic museum, it is a museum that is divided: everything that was found in ceramics from the archaeological zone , part of textiles, rituals and dances , and part of photographs. We have arrived at the house of culture and we are going to visit its museum.

Here at the entrance of the museum we can find a plume, a cuaquetzale that we know in the community or copali as they call it in the center of the country of one of the most representative dances of Cuetzalan: the quetzalines that is this plume.

I really like the museum of the House of Culture, the truth is that it is super well summarized, it has an explanation from the flora, the fauna, the geography and then you enter the culture from the first Totonac settlements and even the most contemporary part of the I love

The indigenous populations that inhabit Cuetzalan. I think that before starting the tours in Cuetzalan they have to come to this place so they can have an immersion. The museum takes you back to the origins of Cuetzalan when it was part of the Totonacapan empire. Here we can see archaeological pieces from Yohualichan,

One of the key cities of the Totonacas. The archaeological zone of Yohualichan is considered the first settlements of the Totonacs and it can be observed from the architectural part, for example, the slope is very simple, it does not have much ornamentation, the buildings do not have glyphs

And they also have a single niche in the first buildings where they already The double niche is observed, it is in the eastern building where the tlatoanis are supposed to have lived, what does this mean that when they were about to leave the ceremonial center they already had more architectural knowledge

, however in the Tajín you can observe the architecture in its maximum manifestation, The Tajín area is a place with better geography because it was flat, the sea was very close and it also had a river very close to the Tajín that helped them bring the limestone

That they have in their ceremonial centers through canoes , so it was very It is easy to build and that is why it has so many ball games and many buildings , while Yohualichan was much more difficult because it is located on a mountain. Cuetzalan has been a strategic point in Mesoamerica

Since time immemorial, which is why it was a point of attraction for different peoples, one of them being the Nahua speakers who settled in this cosmopolitan region and little by little they surpassed the number of Totonac speakers. The Totonac was a much larger population and little by little Nahuatl grew in a region,

The Cuetzalan area has several regions where we all speak Nahuatl, then it changes to Totonac and the language begins to mix. Did Nahuatl spread naturally? Of course, it was like a cosmopolitan region precisely because of the trade routes, so social groups were formed that expanded the language.

I still practice my mother tongue, which is Mazehuatl, the Nahuatl that is what they call it. For the evangelizers it was a challenge to bring the word of God to the remote and rugged areas of the Sierra Norte de Puebla. Everything that is the mouth of the Sierra de Puebla

Is part of the Totonacapan, there are settlements all in that region, it has always been populated, it has always had people who have lived in the mountains , why was it difficult to reach them? Because they cross several rivers and in those times

With so much rain they were heavy it was not easy to reach them that is why evangelization comes here but it was only like visiting Cuetzalan it was not permanent for the evangelizers to be here. From Tuxpan to Guerrero there was a road that connected the Gulf with the Pacific to exchange trade.

And above all, since in those ancient times they bartered in Cuetzalan, you will still be able to observe on Sundays that the barter is done with local products. The people who live in the hot part along with the cold part come down and Cuetzalan is the center where everyone is located.

We move on to the Cuetzalan photography exhibition which is a look at the town’s past and its social movements. See a collection of old photographs of Cuetzalan, the photography and video are a testimony. Almost in front of the House of Culture is the Matachiuj crafts market. Inside is the Las Ranas restaurant

. This is a must-see stop to try the traditional dishes. I am from here in Cuetzalan with a lot of Cuelzaltecan pride because here we are in this restaurant called Las Ranas many ask me why Las Ranas I say no precisely because it says it brings luck we cannot grab the fetish animals

Rather because of the metamorphosis they undergo. Oh from tadpoles to frogs. So I think that mentally we also suffer metamorphosis very often, sometimes daily, and that’s why I like frogs. then here at night they walk around, sometimes it even seems like a real orchestra at night. Enmoladas. That looks good.

Some enmoladas that look delicious with the gratin creso, I can’t believe… It’s different from the mole we’ve tried, which isn’t as sweet. Every day we design a different menu, which makes my mind start working early on. And what do I do today? Let it not be repeated,

Let it have vegetables, let it have vegetables, I try to balance the foods that we offer here, because the regional food The murderess, the tlayoyos, the enmoladas are delicious here , right now they are going to try it. What makes me most curious is this pork that comes with cheese and banana leaf.

We needed this to continue with the city tour. Something very traditional, I give you the right to uncover, it is called itacate, it is tortillas put in sauce and others in beans folded like this, it is smoked with the bones of the beef. It is typical regional Mexican food,

Haute cuisine at Las Ranas. The meat is super juicy, it is delicious. The gastronomic feast does not end, look what we are eating, it is like a kind of fried tortilla accompanied by meat, here it is called itacate. Empipianadas that toasted sesame, peanut and chiltepin

You are going to try it, it is delicious. See delicious. Something I really liked about this place is that they gave us a tasting of all the typical foods. They are tlayoyos, they are gorditas stuffed with dehydrated alberjón with a mixture of avocado leaf and serrano chili.

But if you like so that it doesn’t get cold. Oh thank you very much. I was going to say that the enmoladas were my favorite but every food I try is still my favorite. This thing I’m eating right now is a tlayoyo filled with alberjón and avocado leaves. I like haute cuisine

And especially regional cuisine that is very well made and very well presented. We want to thank the chef of Las Ranitas, Nicolás, tell us how you manage to make such delicious food? Our passion is cooking and whenever you like, my colleagues are here to serve you. and see how he left us.

The entire restaurant is decorated with frogs. I have a collection of 520 frogs, none of them are the same, because my friends, as they know I like them , some are from Spain, others from Colombia, Argentina and different parts of the country. The entire restaurant is decorated. That’s right, it looks pretty.

We will be your frogs. Oh how good my spoiled frogs, the poisonous ones that are the brightest colors. It was truly the best meal. Thank you very much for having us here at Las Ranas. All the dishes were exquisite, they all left us amazed. We are located inside the crafts market,

The crafts market is called Matachiuj which means: handmade, around here there are many places of my artisan friends if you want to stop by and take a look around and see the beauty of their craftsmanship. Come to Las Ranas. Good morning, what are you doing ma’am? Here making a scarf.

What is that process called? It is a backstrap loom. At the end of the meal Julio Diego invited us to visit one of the most beautiful temples in Cuetzalan: The Guadalupano Sanctuary or also known as the church of the jarritos. At this moment we are walking towards the Guadalupano sanctuary,

It is one of the most emblematic buildings here in Most people know Cuetzalan as the church of the jarritos but it has nothing of jarritos, because it has a clay ornamentation on the part of the spire, it is beautiful to appreciate that architecture, since in the entire Sierra de Puebla

There are no buildings that are compared with this building , which is also very tall. And opposite in the atrium is a cemetery. Yes, currently it is still occupied for all the people who have a space there, the cemetery as such continues to be occupied. We are already entering the atrium

, which is where the cemetery is located. People rest there. Imagine the pleasure of resting with these sunsets in front of this sanctuary. Yes, it is really beautiful, the location of this building is very good compared to the church of San Francisco de Asís which is in the historic center,

This spine is to the west and the front is to the east. Then the first rays of the morning sun hit it to reach its main altar. And what people rest here? We have Cuetzalan as important characters who have contributed a lot, for example: José María Huidobro

, who is one of those who fought for the battle of May 5 in 1862 in Puebla against the French, he rests here, we also have one of the most important singers What vernacular music has had since Mexico Paco Michel is renowned: singer, actor and also composer.

Ah, it was the one that the adventurer composed, right? and his house is in the center. Well, he was born in that house because after showbiz he had to travel a lot around the world, in fact he died in Spain but they brought him to rest in this pantheon,

For love of his land he wanted to be here. Francisco Agustín Dieguillo was one of the indigenous leaders of his time in which he also fought in the battle of May 5 in 1862. Between San Francisco de Asís and this sanctuary are the most beautiful temples of Cuetzalan. Well, I love this one

, it is a semi-replica of Lourdes, which is in France. For me, both are favorites because they have beautiful architecture, this one at least stands out for being neo-Gothic and the other for being very eclectic. Apart from that, they are monumental buildings

That are found throughout the Sierra. There are no buildings like these in Puebla, this one measures approximately 45 meters high and is dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. Let’s go inside to see it. Those words in Latin are those that Pope Benedict At that time, the Virgin of Guadalupe

Became the most venerated virgin. We found her in Paris in the Vatican and throughout Latin America, loved by millions of people and especially by our indigenous communities. The Virgin of Guadalupe, the national identity, became the indisputable figure that gives origin and cohesion to what is today Mexico.

At dusk is the best time to walk through the streets of the center of Cuetzalan as its alleys reflect the quiet life of the small town. Something we like most about Cuetzalan are its alleys. Master, what do you think of the alleys in Cuetzalan? Well, for me it really makes me nostalgic

Because these alleys remind me of my entire childhood. Originally, almost the main streets of the historic center had this complete paving of rough stones. For me, it is very nice that these alleys are maintained with this paving, you don’t lose that atmosphere of a little town

It is something very special about the place. Julio Diego took us to meet maestro Jesús González who is an artist and poet who is inspired by his people and continues with the creativity that characterizes his family’s lineage. Hello, good afternoon. The teacher is our host. My name is Jesús González Galicia,

I am a secondary education teacher but I have dedicated a lot of time to the issue of manual tasks, pen paintings, work in chalk, bone, wood, stone, even toothpicks. He makes representations especially of the indigenous part of the dances, look, this is a beauty, it is incredible

And it is also because his ascendant is the teacher Joaquín Galicia who is a painter originally here from Cuetzalan. My grandfather was Don Joaquín Galicia, he was a self-taught painter and many of his paintings, the materials he used were extracted from the environment, from nature, whether earth, mushroom colors, etc.

Some of the paintings he made and that was the last painting that Nevada made was in ’62 in February and in March he died. Curiously, he had been separated from his wife for many years, and they invited him to go visit her, they convinced him,

He left. and the next day after he arrived in Mexico he died after seeing his wife. What teaching does your grandfather leave you in art ? They say that he who goes howling with wolves is taught. My form of fun as a child

Was to go to his house and observe how he painted and what he did. It began to give me the desire to do something. similar because I came up with the question of drawings, of paintings, the truth is I have no idea because I like the small size of things

Everything that is small and I do this because it gives me the opportunity to quickly see the product of my work. I work on one of those pieces, I can make them in an hour, make them out of toothpicks, and people liked them and I gave them away.

They recommended me to the House of Culture in Puebla and that’s when I started invitations to exhibitions at the University Museum of Puebla, in the house of The crafts in Puebla even went outside the country. When we ask him about his source of inspiration,

The poet and artist Jesús González does not hesitate to answer. Here there are a lot of things to be inspired: the vernacular architecture, everything that is Caves, Rivers, natural spas, there is what is the flora, the fauna, the culture of the town which is enormous, it is more the Nahuas that prevails

But in the dances, for example, the pre-cortesian ones, the one of fliers, huahuas and cuetzalines or quetzales as many people call them. Well, they have a Totonac influence, surely each dance is a ritual and that is what is interesting, every time something was done it was because it had to be done

To benefit the land. We couldn’t leave without listening to one of the teacher’s poems dedicated to the alleys of Cuetzalan. The alleys of my town are magical , they search for me, they call me, they come out to meet me at the turn of any sigh at the spell of any memory,

I walk through them slowly, without haste, inhaling their beauty, feeling their walls, The humidity of their spell penetrates through my fingers, they trap me in them, a thousand lustful goblins take shelter , crouched between the humid gaps of the sleeping stones, stalking the lovers who inevitably fall under their spell

. The alleys of my town are magical, the same under the mystical embrace of a bewitching moon that under the pale sun of clear mornings. Cuetzalan is magical, but within all that the best thing is the people, they are magical and they are really worth it,

All of us here, the majority of us are indigenous. I want to die right here in my land, I tell you for almost 70 years that I have enjoyed my people and what hurts me the most is that I have to leave, but I already told my people when they bury me

To leave me with my head hanging out. So that you can continue seeing everything beautiful about Cuetzalan, it is a blessing to have been born here. Young people are coming, new people who have more and more interest in their town and I believe that there will be a way for Cuetzalan

Not to transform for the worse, but rather for the better. There is plenty of talent here. Thank you for joining us on this unforgettable tour of one of the most beautiful towns in Mexico. Visit Cuetzalan Pueblo Mágico, the best tourist village in the world. Live an unforgettable experience with Julio Diego

On the biocultural tours of Cuetzalan Yankuik. Welcome Xipanokan.

Rodeada por el verdor de la Sierra Norte de Puebla se encuentra Cuetzalan, uno de los pueblos más antiguos y bellos de México. Aquí el pasado se mezcla con el presente. Su gente aún mantiene sus tradiciones que han forjado desde la época prehispánica.

Caminaremos por sus calles empedradas, junto a las mujeres nahuas al ritmo de su falda. Entraremos a sus iglesias para admirar la ferviente fe que acompaña a sus habitantes.

Este recorrido lo hicimos acompañados del mejor guía cultural: Julio Diego, quien con amor a su tierra, nos devela la magia de Cuetzalan, comunidad reconocida por la Organización Mundial de Turismo como una de las mejores villas del mundo.

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