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Published: March 5th 2019
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Puebla Tunnels
These tunnels are a bit of a mystery. They are believed to be around 500 years old but nobody seems to know for sure A tunnel through the largest pyramid in the world, a tunnel right into the earth and a recently rediscovered tunnel
Just over two hour by bus from Mexico City is the city Puebla. We decided to take a day and go there and visit some places that sounded interesting. When I look at the photos it seems like all we saw was a lot of tunnels. We did see more but the highlights of this day were the various tunnels. So if you have a problem with claustrophobia some of the places we visited in Puebla might not be for you.
Let us begin with the first of the tunnels -
Puebla Tunnels. These tunnels are a bit of a mystery. They are believed to be around 500 years old. We were told that they were built as severs but I have not been able to verify this. The official story is that the tunnels were abandoned several hundreds of years ago and that until just a few years ago nobody knew for sure if they existed or not. Three years ago they were rediscovered and soon after that the tunnels were renovated. In 2017 they
Puebla Tunnels
We were told that they were built as severs but I have not been able to verify this. opened one or two sections of the tunnels for visitors.
There is something that doesn't sound right about the official history of the tunnels. After they rediscovered the tunnels two years ago they mapped out a total length of 10 km of tunnels. How can they have 10 km of tunnels running underneath a modern city and not even know they exist? That doesn't make sense. In a modern city there are sewage pipes, electrical cables, water pipes, telephone cables and so on. Much of this runs below the surface. When they dug up the roads to lay these pipes, cables etc they must have come across the tunnels many times over.
Anyway, it was good fun to walk through the tunnels. I think the section of the tunnels we visited was about one kilometre in length. It is easy to walk through them. I am tall, far taller than an average man, but still I had no problem walking in them. They had also fitted the tunnels with stairs when it was necessary and the tunnels were nicely lit up with lights in different colours. In some places they also had on display
Puebla Tunnels
The official story is that the tunnels were abandoned several hundreds of years ago and that until just a few years ago nobody knew for sure if they existed or not. various artefacts they uncovered when they cleared out and renovated the tunnels for tourists.
Now to tunnel number two -
Cuexcomate. Although Cuexcomate is a wide and deep hole in the ground it is not correct to label it a tunnel. Some people say that it used to be a geyser where as other say that it is a small volcano. It the second label is accepted as the truth it is probably the smallest volcano in the world. Whether it is a volcano or a geyser I leave to geologists and volcanologists to debate. Whatever it is we can rest assure that it is perfectly safe to visit. Cuexcomate is cone shaped, just like a stratovolcano. The height of the cone is 13 meters, its diameter at the base is 23 meters and it is 23 meters deep. Here comes the fun part - you can climb into the cone and go all the way down to the bottom of it. So if you want to climb down into a cone of an extinct volcano/geyser this is the place to go.
Before I write about tunnel number three I want to write a
Puebla Tunnels
Three years ago they were rediscovered and soon after that the tunnels were renovated. In 2017 they opened one or two sections of the tunnels for visitors. I think the section of the tunnels we visited was about one kilometre in length little about
Puebla itself. The historical city centre is from colonial times, it is well preserved and it has been listed as a world heritage sight by UNESCO. The city centre is pretty. There are hundreds of very beautiful buildings dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Some buildings might be even older than that. If you are into colonial era historical cities I am sure you could easily spend one or perhaps even two entire days just wandering around in the city. We saw several similar cities when we were in Mexico so we didn't have the need to see each and every palace, church and square Puebla had to offer. We were happy to just walk through from one end to the other on our way between two busses.
Tunnel number three came as a bit of a surprise as we didn't plan to see any tunnel there. We wanted to see
Cholula - the largest pyramid in the world. If you thought that the Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest pyramid in the world you have some relearning to do. The Great Pyramid of Cholula has a volume of 4.45 million cubic
Puebla Tunnels
It is easy to walk through the tunnels. They had also fitted the tunnels with stairs and the tunnels were nicely lit up with lights in different colours. In some places they also had on display various artefacts they uncovered when they renovated the tunnels for tourists metres where as the largest of the Egyptian pyramids has a volume of just under 2.6 million cubic metres. The reason this Mexican pyramid isn't very famous, in spite the fact that it is way larger than any other pyramid in the world, is because it doesn't look like a pyramid. It looks like a grass covered earth mound.
I told my mother before we went there that this isn't really a spectacular sight. I visited Cholula in 2009 and I remember thinking that it wasn't much to see. I mean, it is the largest pyramid in the world and that is a reason by itself to go there. But other than that not spectacular. I was wrong. When we came there it turned out that they had opened a section of the pyramid which was closed in 2009 - the tunnels. When they excavated the Great Pyramid of Cholula they found several tunnels going through it. So far they have discovered tunnels of a total length of about eight kilometres inside the pyramid. The main entrance to Cholula is via one of these tunnels. You pay your entrance fee and then you enter the maze of
Cuexcomate
Some people say that it used to be a geyser where as other say that it is a small volcano. tunnels. You walk through to the centre of the pyramid and then after a few twists, loops and turns you come out in the other end and can see the few tiny fragments of this gigantic structure that have been laid bare and been restored. The parts that have been unearthed are not even 10 %. For the rest of this structure, more than 90% of the entire pyramid, you have to use you imagination to get an idea what it once looked like.
I hope you enjoyed reading about what we did the day we went to Puebla. Next blog entry will be about butterflies, butterflies and more butterflies. Millions of them actually.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Fascinating story
Good to hear about this tunnels. Enjoyed your word pictures. Thanks for taking us along.