Ruta Azteca: Zacatlán and Chignahuapan.... The gates of the Sierra Norte

Hey travelers, this time I will show you a part of the state of Puebla, the entrance of the Sierra Norte two hours away from Mexico City to visit a couple of towns, Zacatlán de las Manzanas and Chignahuapan, these villages belongs to the tourism program "Magical Villages"

Early we took the road that lead us to Zacatlán it´s the highway 130 that goes through the State of Mexico, State of Hidalgo and finally the state of Puebla.

Once we leave the city, on this road we can see the Teotihuacan pyramids and the ballons that fly above this magnificent archeological site, we are driving through the Hidalguense semidesert but soon we'll begin to see a highway surronded by a forest, we are almost in Zacatlán

Zacatlán means "abounding in grass" and it´s know as Zacatlán de las Manzanas (Zacatlan of the Apples) because of the crops of this fruit, also they elaborate wine from the apples.

The original people of this town belonged to the tribe of the Toltecas that founded this place in the year of 697, there is no remains of this old civilization, no pyramid or temple maybe they was destroyed by the conquerors, this tribe surrendered in 1521.

finally we arrived to Zacatlán and the first place to visit it´s the valley of the stacked stones, a strange valley where we can see these rock formations originating in the Cenozoic era, 65 million years ago, some of these rocks reach the 20 meters

We take the road again and 25 km ahead is the village of Zacatlán, this town is known not just for the apples or the wine but for it's clocks as well, in this very town, was established the first company of monumental clocks of Latinamerica, like the one that decorates the main square.

The third week of August, Zacatlán celebrates the fair of the apple, many Mexican music bands performs during this week, and the visitor may buy some of the different kind of wines that sell on this season, apple, peach, blueberry or coffee.

Cider

But let's take a walk around the main square, because today it´s a day of fair there's too many stands that offers, toys, local clothes like the sarapes or the quexquemetl, jewerly, clocks, and food, on this matter Zacatlán has a few traditional dishes like Pichon del campesino, chicken or rabbit mixiote or tlacoyos.

Traditional Mexican Toys

To the left of the square we will find the former convent from the XVI century

Beside the convent is the church of Saint Peter builded in the XVII Century with a baroque facade, inside the statues of Saint Peter and Saint Paul the patrons saint of this town

facing this church it's the town hall, a neoclasical building from the XVIII Century, the peaceful streets, the weather relieves the visitor, especially those who are from the city, this town takes you back to the provincial colonial era.

Town Hall

Mexican Handcrafts

Streets of Zacatlán

It's almost twelve o'clock, we walk one block ahead the main square to witness a show in the museum Alberto Olvera, the automata show, robots that dance with the typical garments of the different states of Mexico, Veracruz, Chiapas, Jalisco, Oaxaca etc..

The Automata

We say good bye to Zacatlan and continue to north, on the road we found the goldfinches Canyon, an oriel to contemplate the forest that surrounds the town and the waterfall Tres Marias

We're heading now to see the Saint Peter´s waterfall, we'll find it beside the highway, we have to cross and old stone bridge to reach this point, just right here was the first attempt to found the village of Zacatlan, there's still stand the old walls of the ancient town, on weekends some people rent the equipment to practice rappel.

We arrive to the town of Chignahuapan (Over the nine waters), in the prehispanic era, this town was settling by Tonotacas that found this village with the name of Tetehuic (mount of pyramids) they used to praised Mixcoatl (the cloud of snakes) that's how they called the Milky Way.

This town it's known because of it's handcrafts made of blown glass especially the Christmas spheres, this town produces almost 70 millions of spheres every year, in the main square the visitor will find the only one kiosk made of wood in the whole country.

a few meters ahead it's the parish of the apostle Santiago, a polychrome building with a facade made of mortar from the XVIII century, on it's tower is the first clock made in the Centenario factory.

another place that we have to visit, is the Chignahuapan lagoon, formed by nine waterholes that give the name to this town, a place where the fishing is permitted.

Chignahuapan's Town Hall

it's getting late, so we must continue to the main attraction, the Quetzalapa leap, a waterfall that reachs the 200 meters, we have to descend more than 300 steps to reach the oriel, but it's worth it, while we're walking we find the ruins of the old hydroelectric company.