TEPOZTLAN

The town itself is worth the trip there.  Cobblestone streets, beautiful scenery set in a valley between mountains on all 4 sides.  You can just walk around the town or you can walk up to the temples (they are located at the top of the mountain.  A good hour and a half walk straight up.  There are many excellent restaurants in the town.  One I really liked was "Axitla" located between the town and the starting point to climb the mountian to the temples.  It has both and indoor and outdoor dining areas.  Great food, large varied menu, and good prices.  Highly recommended.  

The Indian name Tepoztlán literally means "place of copper". Other meanings are "place of split stones" or "place of axes". This hill forms part of a small chain of mountains which for the ancient inhabitants of the region had obvious religious connotations. 

The Temple, or House of the Tepozteco was built in the Late Post-Classic period, in all likelihood in times when the Tepoztlán settlement (beneath the present town) had already been conquered by the Aztecs. Little research has been done on the site, although we do know that it was occupied from Pre-Classic to Post-Classic times. 

This is a view of the city taken from the Posada de Tepoztlan.  A hotel/restaurant.  Has a great patio to sit on and have coffee or drinks and look out over the city.

The Tlahuicas arrived at their present stomping grounds in today's State of Morelos some time between the abandonment of Teotihuacan and the foundation of Tenochtitlan. By the Post-Classic period, the region had been divided into discrete territories, each controlled by a particular political unit. One of these was Tepoztlán. 

In the Mendoza Codex it is stated that during Moctezuma Ilhuicamina's reign (1440-1469) the Aztecs conquered several cities in the region, among them Tepoztlán. The tepoztecos were experts at making amate tree paper (amaquahuitl) and lime, as well as farmers renowned for their corn, peppers, beans mellons, and cotton.   

The Temple of the Tepozteco. The building's outside layer covers at least one older structural phase. The largest at this small ceremonial cloister. This building is regarded as a good example of Aztec architecture, having as it does two staired tiers topped by a two-room temple. At the front of the first room, two pillars provide a triple entrance; inside it the floor dips in the middle, where excavation revealed traces of carbon and copal incense for ceremonies. The back room, the temple's most interesting area, is entered from the first floor through a door flanked by twin pillars, jambs decorated with relief's and paint, now mostly obliterated. Motifs on the jambs include xicalcolhiuhque, or frets, dots, vertical grooves, and below, depictions of the sun. As in the first room, here, too, there are stone benches built into the walls. In this second room the benches have carved figures on them, plus a small cornice. It was garnished with motifs, only a few of which remain, may be glyphs of the 20 days of the month in the pre-Spanish calendar.

Another picture taken from the Posada.  This is looking towards the temples located at the top of the mountain.

Below this frieze, on each of the side benches, are four big slabs with carved symbols in the relief that could be related to the four cardinal points. On the north side you can see the deities of the four cardinal points as represented by their symbols. Another interpretation would be that these signs, which include a shield, either refer to war or portray one of the pulque Gods, Ometoch Tlahuiztli, or the water or blood Gods. On a pedestal in this second room, there used to be a stele or tablet with the figure of Tepoztecatl. It was still in place in the mid-sixteenth century, when, because it continued to be worshipped by the Indians, it was smashed by the Dominican friar Domingo de la Asunción. A fragment of this stele was found on the path between Tepoztlán and the temple, and is now on exhibit at the regional museum in Cuernavaca. It has Tepoztecatl's face and the half-moon nose plug (yaca-meztli) shown on all depictions of the pulque gods. Above the feathered headdress is a maguey, also a pulque symbol.

This is a view of the convent next to the Church in the central area of town.  They are remodeling this building and turning it into a museum.  Very interesting.

The work convent in Spanish does not mean the same as it does in English.  This building housed both Nuns and Monks.  Mostly Monks.  It is being extensively reconstructed and the parts that are finished (December 1999) looked really nice.  They have a nice topographic model that shows the entire region including the Volcano "popo" that is located in this area.  Many exhibits about the area, and the people who used to live here. 

The town is quite popular on the weekends and attracts large crowds of people.  Monday - Friday its quite a bit more subdued.  If you are driving on the weekend I suggest you go early to get a parking space close to the central area.  

copyright 2000 by G.W.S.