The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-12-23
CHOLULA'S PYRAMID.
ALL THAT Is LEFT TO TELL OF
FORMER MAGNIFlcENcE.
The Present ChOIuIa a Rare Gem Of
Beauty-VIew from the Pyramid
A Shrine on the Noun
tain Top.
Fannie B. ward,s Lstter.l


Churultecsl (the ancient name Of Choluls
Is situated on q plain and contains 90, 600
houses within the body Of the town and
as many more In the suburbs Its people
are well dressed and the neighboring
fields exceedingly fertile l certify to your
ma .esty that from one of the temples |
have counted more than 400 towers and
they are all the towers of temples
To-day no trace remains Of the A, 900
houses and 400 towcrS-nothing but the
great pyramid to hint of former magnifi
cence. History has made familiar COrtez'
tragic advent into the Rome of Anahuac-
how. through the medium of Donna Ma
rina. he discovered q plot among the
Cholulans to exterminAte the hated In
vaders. and determined to make an ex-
ample of them which should strike terror
to the heart of the nation and make NJ on
tezuma tremble upon his throne beyond
the mountain. Treacherously sSembling
all the chiefs and Leading citizens In the
great square of the town. without q mo-
ments warning Curtez turned his arms
upon them and slaughtered the defense
less people by thousands. We are told
that the peaceful streets of ChuIu,tecal
were crowded with the corpSes of unof-
Tending citizens, their houses and temples
all burned to the ground. and the near b. ;
river Atovac ran red with blood After
this Christian work the great temple on
top of the pyramid was sOlemnly purified
by COrtez' order and the standard of the
cross uplifted above the desolated city.
The present Cholula is rare gem In
the way of pictureSqueness Battle
mented churches surrc9nd its grass. grown
plaza Cannon balls, bedded in all the
walls. tell of war alarms. and among its
numerous nun. fOrSaken converts Is one
now used as a prison, where the convictS
are forever weaving sashes on primitive
hand looms Indeed the business of
everybody in this iso'ated community
appears to be sash-weaving or relic hunt
ing Lach little pulqueria and fondita,
where mild native intoxicants are dis
pensed. has Its collection of TOltec idols
and ancient pottery for sale among the
beverages Ragged boys and baref0oted
maidens follow the stranger about the
streets importuning him to buy the gods
of their ancestors Five-hundred-yea old
divinities of uEdoubted authenticity may
be bought for few cents. and for 81
or 50 one may purchase household gods
by the peck. and the sacred vessels once
used in their worship Frequently small
vases or glazed and cOlOred pottery are
unearthed in excavations, or are found in
tact in the fields and can always be
secured from their unsppreciative owners
for tritling sum.
A we'll paved road, with steps cut in
and cypress trees to the top of the pyra-
mid ON It's lofty summit, among tombs
of blue and yellow tiles. is an enormous
cross of carved stone, set close at the edge
of the terrace and bearing date 1866.
From this point one OF the most beautiful
view In the world is obtained. and here
Humboldt made many of his astronomical
observations No less than twenty villages
may be counted within the near by circle
of hills; the fertile fields between look
like gigantic checker board. roads dlverge
like spiders webs, in all directions, and
the SnOw-tOpped volcanoes stand guard
O, or all The church that now occupies
the site of QuetzalcOatrs temple is dedi-
Gated to an equally mythical divinity,
called the Virgen de los Remedies.
Whether she was brought to Mexico by
one Of COrtez' soldiers, or was manufact-
ured soon after their arrival here, is Q
mOOted question.
She is small, ugly wooden doll, bout
three feet high, evidently carved with
rude knife, having holes gouged out for
eyes and mouth-and yet was supposed
to possess divine power to heal all wounds
and diseases. The image was lost on that
memorable nOche triste. when the Span
isrds were forced to flee from the Aztec
capital, and nothing more was heard from
her for half century, till one day a wan
dering Indian found her perched in the
heart of huge maguey on top of bar,
rem mountain. The restoration of the
image was joyfully hailed by the Span
iArds, who proceeded 10 build a church
upon the spot where she was found. and
In which she was installed with great
ceremony. her shrine being a century
plant of solid silver. The original image,
somewhat the worse for wear and tear,
may still be seen by anybody who cares
to make u mule back pilgrimage to that
ofr
has made it, and declares that it is by no
means worth the trouble
AS long az Spain prOspered In Mexico.
untold sums were lavished upon this
Virgsn de los Remedies. but bye and
bye she found q powerful rival In the
Creole Virgin, Guadalupe. When Mexi,
cos Washington-the brave Miguel Hi
dslgO-raised for his revolutionary stand
ard picture Of Guadalupe, his rebellion
assumed the character of crusade. After
his defeat and execution the irgen de
los Remedies assisted in celebrating the
victory, borne about the streets of the
City of Mexico dressed In the full mill
tary costume of q Spanish general. .ery.
where hailed as the patrOness of Spain
and con iuerOr of her other self. the Creole
Virgin. The tables soon turned, however,
for when the revolutionary army finally
triumphed the military sash was torn
from her sacred person by bold soldier
of the opposition, she was reviled and
rolled about in the dust, and afterward
the commanding officers made out her
passport. as for a living person. and or
dered her to leave the country. She was
restored at length to her shrine on the
mountain top. but never to the older
honOrs and emoluments-which to day
are all bestowed upon her rival, Guada-
lupe. the patrOness of the Indians.
There being no public-hou in Cho-
lula, travellers must depend upon privase
hospitality, or bring with them a
luncheon from Puebla One may leave
the latter city early in the morning and
return at evening. days time being
sufficient to do" the sacred city. A
more delightful excursion cannot be made
the wide world over. and what grander
dining place can be imagined than under
the giant expresses of that mysterious
pyramid with the match ess panorama
spread out below After such a plunge
into the misty past. one returns reluct-
antly TO the commonplace. and casts
many backward glanccs on the homeward
journey toward that prowling place of
neurological spOoks, the home Of Ana
huac. whose white towers gliSten In the