On Tuesday Marie and I, Phil and Fer, and Cesar drove downtown to the Museo National de Antropologia. It is an impressive site, guarded at the entrance by the god of Rain and Lightning, Tlaloc,and surrounded by .beautiful parks and gardens. The museum contains the history of the pre-Hispanic peoples and has a beautifully reconstructed model of the Great temple - the sacred area of the Aztec capital, a model of the Tiatelolco market, the largest one in the city where thousands of items from all over Mesoamerica were traded, and hundreds of stone figurines, gods and monoliths of all sizes. The highlight of our tour was viewing and standing beneath the Aztec Calendar! The calendar consisted of a 365 day calendar cycle and a 260 day ritual cycle. These two cycles together formed a 52 year "century", sometimes called the "Calendar Round".The box at the top of the stone contains the stone's year of creation.It was during the reign of the 6th Aztec monarch in 1479 that this stone was carved and dedicated to the principal Aztec deity: the sun. The stone has both mythological and astronomical significance. It weighs almost 25 tons, has a diameter of just under 12 feet, and a thickness of 3 feet! As you can see from the picture I could barely hold it! The stone was discovered in 1790 buried in the "Zocalo" (the main square) of Mexico City. The viceroy of New Spain at the time was don Joaquin de Monserrat, Marquis of Cruillas. Afterwards it was embedded in the wall of the Western tower of the metropolitan Cathedral, where it remained until 1885. At that time it was transferred to the national Museum of Archaeology and History by order of the then President of the Republic, General Porfirio Diaz.
We also watched the 'Volador de Papantla' or 'Flying
Men from Papantla', who climb a high pole then descend upside down on ropes tied to their legs, swinging around in a wide circle as they get closer to the ground. This ritual is performed to honour the sun and is composed of four men, turning 13 times around the pole to represent the 52 weeks of the year.. This was at Chapultepec park near the museum. Papantla is a town located in Mexico's eastern Veracruz state. Afterwards we had a late lunch at the city`s premier mall, Antara, an open mall that was constructed in a huge circle. I don`t think I have ever seen a cleaner, more impressive mall anywhere! Another beautiful day ahead of us and after breakfast we are off to Teotihuacan, the ``Place Where Men Become Gods``!
gws
