Xochicalco. (This is a whole day tour, min. 12 hours)
(This is an All Day Tour)
The name Xochicalco means “place of Flowers”, it was founded about 650 AD. by the Olmeca-Xicallanca, a Mayan group o trader from Campeche. The Quetzalcoatl pyramid, the main fortress, several ball courts and an underground solar observatory are the principal attractions for visitors to the site.
As the sun passes through its zenith on May 14th & 15th and July 28th & 29th, a ray of sunlight passes through a narrow shaft in the ceiling of the observatory.
The lines of the building belong to cardinal points. After the building was completed, relieves seven or ten centimeters (three or four inches) deep were carved into these stones in the form of a frieze. These represent the Feathered Snake, which coils around the sides of the pyramid with their heads at the corners.
A cross-legged priest sits between the snake coils wearing an elaborated head dress which seems particularly close to Mayan style. The pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, is a temple measuring 21 by 19mts (69 by 61 ft.) at its base and 17 mts (54.5 ft.) high.
The sides of the pyramid are faced with slabs of extraordinary hard density. They have been fitted together with mortar, but the joint areas are scarcely visible.
Xochicalco means “Place of Flowers”, although at present time, the hilltops are arid. The stronghold is 132 mts (430 ft) above a wide plain on a sugar-loaf where ball courts, palaces and living quarters were erected, but the whole area was terraced and stair stepped with stone supports facing around each one leading higher upward to the broad platform where the most fascinating of archaeological findings rest.
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