Sunday in Guadalajara, Part 1

Ascending concentric circles in front of Guadalajara cathedral

I had two days of plans for what to do in Guadalajara. This is day three.

That's not a bad thing. Every day of a vacation does not have to have an agenda set in advance. This, by the way, is the Sunday morning view of Los Dos Templos from my hotel's top-floor terrace.

Hansom cab clopping along in front of La Chata restaurant this morning where there is -- get this -- a line:

I cobbled together an agenda while eating local pastries.  I am going to the City Museum, then the Jalisco state museum, and then I am going to find Plaza of the Mariachis, which I could not find on my day set aside for the walking tour of Centro Historico.

This is the Guadalajara Cathedral serving as a photo backdrop. I was thinking of traveling to a different part of town, such as Zapopan, but I decided not to.

There's still more to see in the Centro Historico and, in some cases, re-see.

Such as the giant rattan head wearing a giant rattan sombrero:

I could not get a close look on Friday because of the goings-on here. Turns out, the head and sombrero are made of two-by-fours.

It only looked like rattan from the distance I had to keep. Now, today, because I elected another day in the Centro Historico, I can see it up close and for real.

What do I spy with my eye? Ascending concentric circles! Just like Guachimontones!

I saw these on Friday, but I had not yet seen Guachimontones and the so-called "circular" pyramids. Turns out these ascending concentric circles are quite the motif in these parts.

Sunday mass was happening at Templo de Nuestra Señora de la Merced (Our Lady of Mercy), catty-corner from the Cathedral. I peeked inside -- beautiful -- but I did not want to interrupt the mass with my shutterbugging.

So I moseyed down the Museo de la Ciudad, the Museum of the City.

You know you found a museum that is off the well-beaten tourist trek when no one speaks English and not a single one of the explanatory displays has even a word of English. But when I asked where I "compro" my ticket (the word is "boleto," but I called it a "tickete" because I'm pathetic), I completely understood the Spanish language response: "gratis."

Admission was free!

The first display is from 16th Century Guadalajara, the beginning of the Spanish era. I really liked this statue of the Virgin.

She looks like a mother exhausted from raising her infant who, while the son of God, is also a human infant. Of course she would look worn out.

The collection was small. The section on mariachi music was interesting:

Acordeon con botones! Accordion with buttons. And a mandolin. And a phonograph playing really miniature discs, smaller than an old 45.

The instruments of mariachi music then got more modern:

Violins (violines). And a harp (arpa).

Guitars.

Sombreros.

Oh, wait. We left the mariachi section and now are in the Charrería section.

Costumes that would make Porter Waggoner proud.

Charrería is Mexican rodeo. I know, "rodeo" is a Spanish word, so why do they need a different name for Mexican rodeo? Because the Mexicans wanted it that way

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The Virgin Mary watches over Charrería. Or just plain watched Charrería. Perhaps she is a fan.

Photograph of children attending Hospicio Cabañas circa 1940.

I visited the Hospicio Cabañas, now Museo Hospicio Cabañas on Friday.

Walking over to the Jalisco state museum, I spot a horseless carriage straight out of Cinderella.

More horse-drawn carriages at the Cathedral.

This seems to be the place to embark on your carriage ride, with or without horse.

I walked past the Rotonda de Los Jaliescenses Ilustres and noticed the one Illustrious Jaliscan I overlooked on Friday:

Jose Clemente Orozco. He is the muralist who painted all those end-of-days looking murals in the Major Chapel at Hospicio Cabañas

The Palacio Municipal de Guadalajara:

I didn't mean to upload that picture, but I did. So I will keep it in here.

Then, en route to the state museum, I saw this:

Let's end Part 1 of the Sunday walking tour on a cliffhanger. Stayed tuned for Part 2, where I explain what the heck that is and what it's doing in the middle of the street.

The Round Pyramids of Guachimontones

Yes, it's a series of concentric circles and not, technically, a pyramid. Still impressive.

Time to get out of the city and check out the round pyramids.

Let's get this out of the way quick. Yes, these are not technically "pyramids." They are circular. I think they are impressive for their construction time, about 200 B.C. But I am aware that the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt (which is, actually, pyramidal) was built between 2700 and 2600 B.C. In fact, Egypt was a thousand years or so out of the pyramid-building business by the time of these ascending series of concentric circles that we've chosen to call "pyramids."

Here I am.

In front of a circular pyramid.

In fairness to the people who built them -- which would be the Teuchitlán culture -- they never called these "pyramids." They were unaware of the pyramids I'm sure. They definitely were unaware of the step pyramids of Teotihuacan, given that that was still several hundred years in the future. But we westerners apparently have chosen to call any indigenous-built structure that gets smaller as it gets taller a "pyramid," because pyramids are more marketable to tourists.

The grounds are home to a series of these ascending concentric circle structures. About a dozen. Some are smaller than others.

Now I understand why we use the term "pyramid" to describe these mounds: "ascending concentric circle structures" gets really tedious to keep typing. So pyramid it is!

This is the view of the town of Teuchitlán, which is in the valley below Guachimontones, the archaeological site. In fact, "guachimontones" is technically what these "ascending concentric circle structures" are technically called in archaeological speak

This is the "market" area of the village. Think of it as the Galleria Mall circa 200 B.C. And just as outdated!

This is most likely not the only sight in this area with these -- dare I say it? -- pyramids, or guachimontones, or ascending series of concentric circles. Pick your poison. But the rest of these structures, scattered all over west central Mexico, are on private land. Where in many instances they likely are growing agave. To make tequila.

In fact, a tour of the round pyramids of Guachimontones is usually a throw-in on a day-long tequila factory tour from Guadalajara. But I'm not really interested in tequila. But I am interested in indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica. And during the height of the Teuchitlán people, the only comparable civilization in the lands of modern day Mexico -- comparable in terms of size, population density, reliance on trade, and technological advancement -- would have been the Olmec, who were centered on the Caribbean coast, around the modern city of Veracruz.

This is a ball court:

Like the Mayan -- like nearly every people of pre-hispanic Mesoamerica -- the Teuchitlán loved their ball games. The ball game was played on a Capital I (serif, not sanserif) shaped court. You could move the ball only with your hips. You did not shoot it into a ring elevated above the court like the Mayan ball game. And what happened to the loser of the all-day long ball game? Probably death.

This is likely a pyramid that has not yet been uncovered.

It really was not until the 1990s that excavations at this site really accelerated. There is still a lot to unearth. Literally.

In this tree is cotton:

Those are cotton. Cotton originally grew in tall trees, with lots of obnoxious, sharp thorns. It was bred down to the more manageable size of a bush. But the rich in Teuchitlán wore 100% cotton fiber clothing.

This is the second ball court of Guachimontones:

And here is another view of the town of Teuchitlán because why not.

By the way, Teuchitlán is not in anyway what these people called themselves, The name "Teuchitlán" looks to me like an Aztec word, with the tell-tale "itlan" ending, but I'm guessing. The indigenous habitants of this area from that time left no written records.

Let's go to the museum!

You enter the museum and you are immediately confronted by a giant mural of the Teuchitlán village (circa 200 B.C., not the modern town in the valley below).

And, yes, there was pole dancing at the top of the pyramid. A priest would dance on the pole mounted at the top. For all to see. There are some areas along the Mexican Caribbean Coast where the "flying dance" tradition has survived (and is performed) in the modern era. But, alas, that is not here.

Here is a clay figurine representation of the community dancing that likely took place around the base of the pyramids, all while the priest was pole-dancing up top.

And here is a mural depicting the Teuchitlán ballgame:

Behind the museum is this rickety structure.

Simply furnished,

I am guessing this is a replica of the structures built of decay-prone building materials that were all around the base of the pyramids.

But there was no signage to either confirm or deny this theory.

Guachimontones is located about an hour, to an hour and a half, due west of Guadalajara, depending on the traffic. Yes you can see it as a thrown in on your tequila tour, but I think it makes for a nice half-day trip out of the city on its own.