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Sunday, September 14, 2008

Pyramids of San Felipe Los Alzati

After leaving Tlal, we headed south to towards the little village of San Felipe Los Alzati, just north of Zitacuaro. If you keep your eyes peeled, you might catch a glimpse of well known cook book author, Diana Kennedy, who lives in the region.


About 2 kilometres outside the village we reach the ruins. Entering from the rear, you pass a number of petroglyphs that are displayed along a pathway leading to stone steps.


Stairway to .......
WOW!

After climbing the stairs you, you enter between 2 structures
Now, it is hard to get a sense of scale in this picture, but trust me, it's BIG!
Climbing to the top you get a breath taking view of the valley. I don't think there is anywhere else in the world with as many shades of green as the Michoacan countryside in the summer.

Valley View

To the right of the picture above, you can see some of the steps for the other pyramid. There is a sort of plaza between the two. It gives the impression of being the base where the pyramids were built

The Base?

No, there's more!

But, if you look over the edge, you see that this is just a platform on a much bigger structure, that is only partially restored. I can only imagine what it would look like, with the entire site restored. Hopeful that will happen soon.

Now I am in a "ruins" mood, So in the next month or so, I will make sure I do postings on the sites that are a little closer to home. There are 3 of them within about 25 kilometres of Patzcauro, as the crow flies. So, keep watching!




3 comments:

Steve Cotton said...

Todd -- Who built them? When? Purpose?

Todd said...

The Matlazinca Indians built this site. They were set between the Purepecha to the west and the Aztecs to the east. It is speculated that the location of this site was to provide a vantage point to control access to the valley

Information at the site indicates that the period of occupation and developement was from 800-1200.

Jonna said...

That is a gorgeous view across the valley.

Between the Purepecha and the Aztecs... talk about being between a rock and a hard place. My guess is they definitely needed a good vantage to watch in both directions.

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