If you visit
Mitla , the first you see is this Roman Catholic church with the red
cupolas, the Iglesia de San Pablo Apostol, the patroness of Mitla, apostle
Paulus. Unfortunately it has been built up from the remains of the ruined
temples in Mitla.
Mitla, a temple city of the Zapotecs. Mitla is
derived of mictlán, land of the dead. The Zapotecs moved them power basis to
this temple city. (after departure from monte albán 700-800 B.C.) There are
underground and overground tombs. The Zapoteken left Mitla in the 11th century. And also this city was taken over by the Mixtecs. Mitla was
inhabited when the Spaniards came.
Grupo de las Columnas.
Buildings with long rooms around the central square.
Templo de las Columnas.
6 enormous pillars which carried wooden rafter and
large roof in the former days.
Geometrical figures, what shoes us the Mixtecs
influence. At them no images of gods, people or animals occurred.
The column of life, the Columna de la Vida.
You embrace the column and afterwards you measure the
space between your finger tops. Between that space between your finger tops
you measure how many times you can put your hands between.
The number of "hands" x 4 would predict how many years you still have to
live!!!
The column is sometimes called 'the column of death'...
aiii....
Until now
it concerns some holidays: Surinam, Egypt, Peru, Bolivia and
Mexico. Further on a brief photo report of the sun eclipse of 1999 in
north-France nearby the little village Spincourt. There is a possibility
to sign my GUESTBOOK. This
homepage is designed by Sander van Kuppevelt (sandervk).
