Izamal Part 1: The massive Kinich Kakmó Pyramid

Aerial vew of the pyramid Kinich Kakmó pyramid in the Yucatan city of Izamal. The 700,000 cubic meter volume of the platform and pyramid make it one of the largest ancient structures in Mexico. The pyramid sits on the northern end of a huge rectangular platform. It can be accessed by a broad staircase visible just below the pyramid. When we visited the site, we climbed a similar staircase located on the south end of the platform (upper left). There are four more small staircases, two on the east side and two on the west. In ancient times, there would have been no vegetation on top of either the platform or pyramid. 

This posting begins a multi-part series on Izamal. In my first two postings, I will cover the two largest ancient structures. These, and a handful of others, largely survived the dismantlement that occurred during the 16th century Spanish Conquest of Yucatan. This was not just random vandalism by the Spanish, but the result of deliberate policies. The civil authorities used materials from the great pyramids and palaces to build their own palaces and churches. The religious authorities, led by the Franciscan Order, carried out what came to be called the Spiritual Conquest, aimed at eradicating any vestige of the ancient religions. 

(Photo from https://akumalnow.com/10-most-amazing-pyramids-in-the-yucatan/)

Overview

Map of modern Izamal. North is at the top of the map. The six surviving ancient structures are dark gray, outlined in blue. Kinich Kakmó is the northern-most and largest of these. It can be found in the "V" formed by Calle 26A and Calle 30, where they converge near the plaza at the center of the city. Izamal has been called the "City of Hills" because the six ancient structures stand out in an otherwise flat landscape.

Izamal is located between the cities of Merida and Valladolid, but slightly closer to Mérida. If you are coming from Mérida, travel east on Carretera Costera del Golfo (Highway 180) to Kantunil. Then take the Carretera Kantunil-Izamal (#53) north to Izamal. From Valladolid, go west on the 180D (toll road) to Kantunil and then up #53 to Izamal. For an interactive Google map of this area, click here.

Etching of the stucco mask of Kinich Ahau, by Frederick Catherwood. This mask of Kinich Ahau, the Sun God, once decorated the platform wall of the Kab-ul pyramid. The mask disappeared sometime after 1862, when the only surviving photo of it was taken. The Kab-ul ("Mighty Hand") structure was largely dismantled in colonial times, but some portions have survived. Catherwood created this etching in 1841, when he and the explorer John Lloyd Stephens were visiting Yucatan's Maya ruins. Frederick Catherwood was a remarkable artist whose highly detailed work closely matches surviving Maya structures.

John Lloyd Stephens described the Kab-ul platform as "perhaps two hundred feet long and thirty high...with vast sides covered from one end to the other with colossal ornaments in stucco, most of which had fallen, but among the fragments is the gigantic head represented. It is seven feet eight inches in height and  seven feet in width. The groundwork is of  projecting stones, which are covered with stucco. In sternness and harshness of expression, it reminded us of the idols of Copan, and its colossal proportions, with the corresponding dimensions of the mound, gave an unusual impression of grandeur."

Image of the sun, surrounded by its rays. One of the several manifestations of Kinich Ahau  was Kinich Kakmó ("Macaw, with the eyes of the Sun"). The immense platform and pyramid that bear his name were constructed to revere him. He is often portrayed as a man with flaming eyes and the head of a brightly colored macaw (parrot) who carried a torch in each hand to bring the sun's rays to the earth. The Maya believed that the sun ruled over health. During times of plague, they would leave offerings for the fiery-eyed macaw god. 

Kinich Kakmó was also related to Itzamná, the God of the Sky and Order, whom the Maya credited with the introduction of writing, the calendar system, agriculture, and medicine. These three gods were all deities of the highest importance, making Izamal one of the preeminent Maya ceremonial centers in ancient Yucatan. Pilgrims brought offerings to Izamal in pre-hispanic times and continue to do so today. It was the equivalent of Cholula, the great ceremonial and pilgrimage site in the Valley of Mexico, which also contains a huge pyramid that has attracted pilgrims for centuries. 

The Great Platform of Kinich Kakmó

 

A father shepherds his two sons up the staircase on the southern end of the platform. The staircase has five landings with several steps to each. The platform itself forms an immense rectangle, measuring 200m (656ft) long and 180m (590ft) wide and covering over 8,000 square meters (over 2 acres). The platform had to be built by hand, with no metal tools, no draft animals, and no use of the wheel. And, of course, prior to the first stone or basket of earth being placed, the ground had to be cleared and leveled. Think about the amount of work that took, even before construction began on the pyramid at its top!

View to the east (right), part way up the staircase of the platform. As you can see, the platform was constructed as a series of stepped levels. The man perched on one of the levels provides a sense of proportion. At Izamal's peak in the Classic Era, there were at least twelve large pyramid-temples Only six still exist. Archeologists believe that the town was founded around 700 BC and it has been continuously occupied ever since. 

Construction of these immense monuments began about 200 AD and continued until about 600 AD, an era known as the Classic. Then Izamal began a slow decline that lasted until 900 AD, when there was another burst of activity. This continued until about 1100 AD, when the decline resumed. This period is known as the Terminal Classic, during which, Chichen Itza (about 60 km to the east) reached its peak and Izamal fell under its influence. However, this influence ended in the middle of the 15th Century (the Late Post Classic). An intriguing incident occurred during this period that may, or may not, be historically accurate. 

As the story goes, there was an intense rivalry between Chichen Itza and its rival Mayapan, which was ruled by a man named Hunac Ceel. He tricked Chichen Itza's ruler Chac Xib Chac into abducting the bride of the ruler of Izamal (who is unnamed in the story). Izamal struck back and drove out Chac Xib Chac, hastening the fall and abandonment of Chichen Itza. In the end this simply traded Chichen Itza's dominance over Izamal for that of Mayapan. By the time the Spanish arrived in the 1540s, Izamal was still populated but was more important as a pilgrimage site than as a political or economic power.

View toward the north down the length of the great platform's top level. In the distance is the ten-level pyramid seen in the first photo. A circular ceremonial fire pit is in the foreground. I have not been able to determine the surface area of the top of the platform, but it is somewhat smaller than the dimensions of the base because the sides of the platform all slope inward. In spite of that, this is a huge area capable of containing gatherings of great size, which was clearly the intent of its builders. The groves of trees seen on either side of the pyramid would not have existed in pre-hispanic times.

The platform was built over a cave that held great significance to the Maya. The limestone caves of northern Yucatan were often important sources of water in an area with almost no above-ground rivers or lakes. They were considered to be abodes of Chaac, the Rain God. Caves were also thought to be entrances to Xibalba (the underworld), which had nine levels and was ruled by its own set of gods. According to the Maya myth of the Hero Twins, they entered Xibalba through a cave and outwitted the Lords of the Underworld. In the process they introduced the first humans to maiz (corn) and taught them how to grow it.

The Kinich Kakmó Pyramid

View of the pyramid's front from its left (west) side. Carole can be seen walking around the base of the pyramid. The tiny figure sitting at the top of the staircase helps provide a sense of scale. There are some indications that a structure of wood and other perishable materials once stood at the pyramid's top level. If that structure was still in existence when the Franciscan friars arrived, it would have quickly been destroyed by them. The Franciscans did everything they could to suppress native religious beliefs and eradicate their temples and other monuments, believing them to be places for "devil worship".

A man lifts his young son up to the fourth terraced level of the pyramid. This shot was taken from the second of the pyramid's ten levels. The staircase up to this landing is in good shape, but from here on it is pretty rough, as you see on the right side of the photo. Notice how the terraces' walls begin to curve beyond the man and his son. The corners of the pyramid are curved rather than at right-angles, reflecting the Puuc style of architecture. That style is found at a number of northern Yucatan's ancient sites, including Uxmal, located   approximately 150km (93mi) to the west of Izamal.

The pyramid of Kinich Kakmó from the right front. The great platform spreads out in front and to both sides of the pyramid. The terraces of each level would have provided excellent "stadium seating" to watch the vast ceremonial activities taking place on the platform's surface. Such seating would almost certainly have been reserved for elites such as the ruling family, nobility, warriors, and priests. Commoners would probably have had to stand around the perimeter of the platform. 

Carole walks around the back side of the pyramid. As you can see, this part of the back side is almost completely un-excavated and is still covered with vegetation. While a considerable amount of archeological work has been done on Kinich Kakmó and other ruins at Izamal, there is much left to do. Unlike other sites in Yucatan and elsewhere in Mexico that we have visited, I could find little in the way of ancient artifacts in Izamal's museums. 

Most of what archeologists have found over the years is kept in the Mérida's Maya Museum of Anthropology, which Carole and I visited a number of years ago. Another possible repository is the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya ("Great Museum of the Maya World"), also in Mérida, but which did not exist when we were there. Among the artifacts which have been unearthed at Izamal are obsidian, stone, and bone tools, ceramics, and stucco decorations from the temples.

View toward the west along one of the terraces on the backside of the pyramid. Below this terrace is the staircase seen in the first photo. You can also see one of the modern roads that surround the great platform. An ancient Maya road was called a sacbe ("white road"). These amazingly well-engineered raised roads were made of limestone and surfaced with a naturally-occurring powdered limestone called sascab. The brilliantly white surface of a sacbe could easily be traveled by night, making for a much cooler journey during the hot season. 

One sacbe passed through Izamal, running from Ti'ho (modern Mérida in northwestern Yucatan) to the Caribbean coast just north of Cozumel. The distance spanned approximately 300km (186mi). Other sacbeob extended out from Izamal to outlying towns and cities.The purposes of these roads included trade, political control, and fast movement by military forces. Travel on the hard, relatively smooth surface of an elevated sacbe was vastly superior to trudging along rough trails and through swamps. Sacbeob were built by hand, with tools of stone, wood, and bone, and without the use of draft animals or the wheel.

Top of the pyramid

 

The pyramid's top level provides an expansive view in all directions. Here, you are looking south, toward the center of both the ancient city and the modern town. The pyramid's main staircase extends down from here. The first section is quite rough and reaches down to where the four people are sitting. From there the rebuilt stairs on the lower section provide more stable footing. In the distance, near the top center of the photo, you can see the yellow structures of the 16th century Convento de San Antonio de Padua, the largest and most important Franciscan convent in Yucatan. I will show it in a future posting. 

Remains of a firepit on the pyramid's top level. Ceremonial fires were an important part of pre-hispanic religious rituals. In ancient times, there was a temple at the top level where ritual offerings, including copal (tree resin) incense, would have been consumed by fires. Other than copal, we know little about the other offerings that were made in ancient times. 

Today's pilgrims still burn copal and the firepit above was probably built for the use of modern Maya shamanic practitioners. Copal is burned to purify and send prayers upward with the smoke. Candles in specific colors are set up around the perimeter of the fire. The color of each candle relates to one of the Four Cardinal Directions. Sugar and panela are offered to bring harmony and favorable outcomes. Flowers, herbs, tobacco, and cacao are burnt to show gratitude.

A young girl gingerly picks her way down the upper portion of the staircase. Taking care, while ascending or descending Mexico's ancient structures, is very important. Climbing down can be especially tricky, because gravity works against you and falls have caused serious injuries or even death. 

There were no handholds or safety ropes on Izamal's pyramids when we visited several years ago, but this may have changed. Due to the number of accidental falls, Mexican authorities have begun to install safety measures like ropes or wooden stairways at many popular pyramid sites. In some locations, climbing has been entirely forbidden.

This completes Part 1 of my series on Izamal. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

Ajijic's murals Part 12 of 12: Murals of the Present and Past

 

A woman surrounded by animals gives a shove to a mult-colored VW.  This mural can be found on Calle Ocampo near its northwest corner with Calle Colon. There is no house number, but a sign saying El Corozonito (The Little Heart) hangs at the front door. There is a lot going on in this mural. A fanciful bird flies just in front of the woman's face and in front of the bird, two Ojos de Dios (God's Eyes) hang down. Behind her head, a lizard-like creature stands. On the right, a tall thin monkey with a long curled tail gestures with its right arm. At the bottom right, a jaguar with an arched back glowers from the corner. 

This posting finishes my series on the murals of Ajijic. In this one, I will include art works that are randomly scattered around the pueblo, as well as some that no longer exist. Other murals seen here were replaced by newer ones, including some I have previously shown. This twelve-part series has drawn many favorable comments and I have enjoyed preparing and presenting it. Thanks to the many people who have responded! There was no date or signature on the mural above.

Murals of Calle Ocampo/Constitución

A group of nude women dances in the courtyard of the house at #12 Calle Ocampo. The figures dance wildly amid pouring rain. The midsections of many of them are globes, perhaps suggesting that the human world begins in a female womb. The house is on the south side of the street, a few doors west of the corner with Calle Colon. Since it is a private home, permission would have to be asked to view it. 

According to an old friend who sent me the photo, the mural is the work of Juan Campo. He painted it when he lived in the house during the 1990s. The mural was dedicated to his girlfriend who died of cancer. Campo created a number of murals in the Ajijic area in the 90s. My friend also lived here for a number of years until she finally sold it after she moved to Chapala.

The insouciant expression of this porker caught my attention. The pig is surrounded on three sides by large blue crystals and wears a necklace with a pendant. Above the pig's head, hummingbirds feed on what appears to be grape vines. The mural is located on the front of a art gallery at #16 Constitución on the south side of the street. This is the same street as Ocampo, but it picks up a new name east of the intersection with Calle Colon. The mural is fun but its meaning is obscure. The artist who painted this mural is Noel Chavez. He is related to Efren Gonzalez, who has also appeared in this blog several times.

Vanished murals of Artist's Alley and Calle Castellanos

The assassination of Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta. This and the next two murals once appeared on the south wall of Artist's Alley, the pedestrian pathway that leads from Calle Castellanos to Ajijic Plaza. They have since been covered over by murals featured in Part 3 of this series. Colosio was the 1994 presidential candidate of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The PRI governed the nation from its founding in 1929 to 2000. Colosio was campaigning in Tijuana when he was shot on March 23, 1994. In the scene above, he is about to be assassinated with a pistol aimed by a man standing in the shadows. 

Mario Aburto Martinez, the purported assassin, was arrested immediately, confessed, and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. The country was immediately plunged into a political crisis. The PRI replaced Colosio with Ernesto Zedillo, who went on to win the 1994 presidential election. Almost immediately after the assassination, rumors began circulating that the killing was the result of an internal battle within the PRI. Colosio was campaigning as a reformer and his election might have led to widespread changes that powerful interests viewed as threatening. 

Colosio lies at the feet of a sinister-looking group as a dog snarls at his corpse. Seated around the table from left to right are Carlos Salinas de Gotari, two unidentified men, and a Catholic cardinal. Salinas was President of Mexico when Colosio was assassinated. With their rather casual stance and expressions, the artist appears to be suggesting that the men were not unhappy with Colosio's demise. The unstated suggestion is that they may have been behind it, as many in Mexico have believed ever since. However, only the lone gunman was prosecuted in 1994. Then, thirty years later, came a bombshell announcement.

On November 8, 2025, a second person was arrested. Jorge Antonio Sánchez Ortega was an intelligence officer who had been sent to Tijuana to "monitor" the Colosio rally. He had been arrested at the scene because he had Colosio's blood on his clothes. Also, gunpowder residue was found on his hands. His intelligence boss arranged for his quick release and removal from Tijuana. Aburto, who confessed to the assassination, claims that is was the result of torture and threats to his family. In July, 2026, an appeals court ordered Sánchez Ortega's release because the statute of limitations for the murder had expired.

The third part of the mural shows workers breaking their chains and rising up.  This part of the mural was also located in Artist's Alley, next to the assassination panels. It is similar to other Mexican murals with political themes that I have photographed. Mexico's Revolution began in 1910, about seven years before the Russian Revolution. It was a time of radical change in various parts of the world and the plight of the working classes was highlighted in this kind of art. Great Mexican muralists like Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros all had political themes similar to this one.

Mural of a seated Maya noble painting the head of a statue. At his feet is a smaller figure with the face of a toothy lizard. The lizard-person also works on a painting. This appears to be based on images from ancient Maya codices and murals. Seated and cross-legged figures are  typical in Maya art and those ancient scenes are usually surrounded by hieroglyphs as this one is. At one time, this and the mural that follows both appeared on Calle Castellanos near its corner with Calle Guadalupe Victorio. In recent years, other murals have supplanted them.

A jaguar speaks while holding an object in its paw. This mural also closely imitates ancient Maya art. The symbols emerging from the big cat's mouth are how Maya artists once indicated speech. Night-hunting jaguars were revered in pre-hispanic times because they were believed to move freely between the worlds of the living and the dead. Since they are powerful hunters, their image was adopted by warriors and royalty, who often dressed in jaguar pelts. The four-petal flowers on the jaguar's body are symbols of the Four Cardinal Directions. Each holy direction has its own color and is represented by its own god.

Murals on the Malecon

A blue nude enjoys the sun's rays.  She is surrounded by the waving leaves of what appear to be aquatic plants. This and the next mural can both be found at the skateboard park on the Ajijic Malecon along Lago de Chapala. A malecon is an esplanade along a body of water like a lake, river, seashore. The skateboard park was designated as an area where graffiti artists could spraypaint to their hearts' delight. They seem to have taken full advantage of the opportunity, since there are numerous other art works in this area. These particular images may have been replaced by others since I took this photo.

Two more nudes luxuriate among the vegetation. Given that this skateboard ramp sees a lot of use, I would not be surprised if this mural has been repainted or replaced since I took these shots. In photographing Mexico's street art, I have noticed that nudity and explicit violence are often included. Sometimes these subjects appear at sites that would seem very unusual to many people in the United States. Local sites include the front walls of elementary schools, as well as skateboard parks like this one. Mexicans don't seem to have the same hang-ups about these subjects as do many folks who live north of the border.

The Carretera Murals

Stampeding carousel horses on Ajijic's Carretera. Mexicans seem to love carousels and particularly carousel horses. I have encountered paintings and carvings of such horses in numerous places other than carousels. Often, they can be found hanging on the walls of restaurants, businesses, or homes. Just another of Mexico's charming quirks, I guess. This is one panel of a lengthy mural along the bike path on the north side of the Carretera near its intersection with Calle Juan Alvarez. The Carretera is the single asphalt-paved road in Ajijic. All the rest in the pueblo are paved with cobblestones. 

Murals of Colonia San Sebastian

This mural is a work in progress. Each January 20, the people of the Barrio de San Sebasian throw a big party to honor the martyrdom of the saint for which the barrio is  (neighborhood) is named. The parade at the Fiesta de San Sebastian begins and ends at the corner of Calle Castellanos and Calle Emiliano Zapata, where the mural is located.

In the mural, San Sebastian is shown on the left, fastened to a tree and punctured by multiple arrows. There is also a whole lot more going on, as is usual with Ajijic's murals. In this and the next three photos, you will find not only the martyrdom, but a group of Sayacos (who represent a different tradition), the sun and moon duality (another, even more ancient ancient tradition), and the images of some of the real people who live in the barrio.  

Sayacos join the parade. Two of them stand at the right end while others are partly concealed behind the men carrying trays of food. The Sayaco tradition is unique to the pueblo of Ajijic and can be traced back to pre-hispanic legends. Their name comes from the Nahuatl word xayactl, which means "mask". The female figures (Sayacas) are actually men in dresses using inflated balloons to imitate female breasts. Sayacos are associated with the Carnaval season, which begins on January 6 and ends on February 10. This probably explains why they appear in this mural.

This section of the mural shows the sun and moon as well as men bearing trays of food.

The juxtaposition of the two celestial bodies harks back to the ancient pre-hispanic concept of duality. The ancient people believed that everything has its opposite: day (the sun) vs night (the moon), life vs death, good vs evil, etc. Nothing can be completely understood in the absence of its opposite. Ometeotl ("Dual God") was the pre-eminent god and contained both male and female aspects. 

Only three of the ten marching men who carry the food platters have human faces. One of them, wearing a blue hat, can be seen above. The three faces are images of real people who live in the barrio. When I took the shot, the figures with blank faces had not yet been filled in by the artist. If you visit this mural, they may all be complete by now.

An elderly couple stands at the left end of the mural. Between them and San Sebastian is an horno (oven). Igloo-shaped hornos are the traditional Mexican way to bake bread, cookies, and other tasty items. When I saw this couple and their oven, I immediately recognized them. Their home is right around the corner on Emiliano Zapata. and the firewood-heated horno is in their back room. In years past, I sometimes stopped by their little bakery to buy a loaf of their scrumptious fresh bread. As you can see, the artist had also not completed this part of the mural when I photographed it.

Part 12 is the last of my series on Ajijic's murals. I hope you have enjoyed this one, as well as the rest of the series. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim

Ajijic's Street Murals Part 11 of 12: Calle Zaragoza from Calle Castellanos to Calle 5 de Febrero

I dubbed this figure "The Blue Lady". She is part of a larger mural, shown later in this posting. It covers a wall about 6 feet tall and 50 feet long on Calle Zaragoza. Just to the left of her face is the door to the house at #58. The artist is Orlando Solano Álvarez, whose work also appears in Part 5 of this series. In this posting, I will cover some of the most interesting murals along Zaragoza between Calle Castellanos and Calle 5 de Febrero.

Calle Castellanos to Calle Colon

A sunburst and various plants, flowers, and fruits line a a parking lot wall. The sunburst reminds me a bit of the "rising sun" emblem of the Japanese Empire during World War II. The wall extends west along Zaragoza from its corner with Castellanos. Another section extends south along Castellanos, where the signature of Juan Higuera appears. I could find no information about him on the internet and there is no date. If anyone knows this artist, please leave a comment. 

This mural, and two more that follow, can be found along Zaragoza between Castellanos and Calle Juarez. Please be advised that, although I note the numbers of some of the houses that have murals, street numbers in Ajijic often appear in no particular order. This can make it a bit challenging to find a specific house. In Mexico, it is often more useful to look for landmarks than street numbers. 

A flowering tree winds across the front of the house at #22 Zaragoza. The mural can be found a few doors west of the first photo on the same side of the street. A white bird. which resembles a Snowy egret, decorates the front door. These egrets can often be seen fishing along the shoreline of Lago de Chapala. I could find no artist signature or date.

This spectacular mural covers both stories of the house at #5 Zaragoza. It contains a wild mixture of people, flowers, and abstract designs. One little detail I liked was a silhouette of a young girl holding an umbrella over her head. She is protecting herself from a deluge of water flowing from a waterfall painted down the left side of the door. There was no signature or date. 

Calle Juarez to Calle Aquiles Serdan

The murals on the house at #32 Zaragoza are truly surreal. There are several and I will show them from left to right in this and the next three photos. Above, a running man in bare feet and a spotted suit carries a large flowering plant on (growing out of?) his head. He seems to be waving at passersby with both hands. His expression and posture are those of a kid proudly proclaiming "look Ma, no hands!"

Between two windows is a large flower with a human face. In the upper left is a tile image of the Virgen de Guadalupe, the patron of Mexico and its poor and indigenous people. My best guess is that the tile image pre-dates the mural. The coloring and features of the flower-face in this and the previous photo suggest that the people they portray are indigenous.

A head with a halo supports a large object from which a flowering plant emerges. The flower-lined shoulders and raised arms frame the mural. While the two previous images show faces that are clearly human, this one is a bit different. Humanity is only suggested by the one-eyed silhouette. It could just a well represent an alien visitor or a robot.

The garage door on the far right of #32 contains the final image. A reclining figure turns to view a sun circled by stars. Surrounding the image are more leafy plants. All four of these playful mural images suggest an intimate connection between humans and the natural world. 

Casa Flores, at #38, also has a long mural with multiple images. I will move from left to right across the front of the house to show the full set of images. The artist is Swoxe Perez, whose full name is Bernardo Raul Pérez Alcala. He was born in Chapala and educated at the Universidad de Guadalajara. His specialty is the fusion of art forms and his work also appears in Part 7.

The middle section of Casa Flores is covered with a wild profusion of plants. Casa Flores is one of several beautiful B&Bs located in Ajijic. The individual rooms are each decorated in a different artistic style and the common areas are full of fascinating objects of popular art.

The final panel on the right shows a serene view of the Lake in the evening. Although a bit pricey by Mexican standards, Casa Flores is comparable to the cost of a mid-range U.S. motel. It is located about 3 blocks from Ajijic's Plaza, making it convenient for visitors without a car. I have never stayed here, but the reviews on TripAdvisor are very good.

Calle Aquiles Serdan to Calle 5 de Febrero

A large bumble bee approaches an intricate design resembling a mandala. This mural is on the northwest corner of Zaragoza and Calle Aquiles Serdán. It would be easy to pass it by because it is partially concealed by a large overhanging tree. If I hadn't been on foot, I could have easily missed it. No artist's signature or date were visible.

A huge parrot stretches across the front door and garage of the house at #50. The mural is located on the south side of Zaragoza. The parrot's appearance is very realistic. Federico Luquin Guerra (who signed his work @Felugue ) is clearly familiar with birds. Sr. Luquin Guerra has 28 years of experience as an artist and has displayed his work at 25 individual and collective exhibitions. He has also created more than two dozen murals in Mexico and internationally. A painter and sculptor, he often uses stone and seashells in his creations. More of his work can be seen at his gallery at Carretera Poniente #117 B, Ajijic.

The "Blue Lady" seen in the first photo is part of a longer mural. As I noted in the first photo, Orlando Solano Álvarez (@orlandoantrax95) is the artist and his work has appeared several times in this series.  To the right of the Blue Lady, a hand (hers?) reaches out toward the brightest of a galaxy to stars. 

The west end of the mural contains another blue face, this time male. Another hand (his?) reaches back, pointing to the same bright star. This mural appears to echo ancient traditions in Mexico about the duality of the cosmos. Everything has its opposite--male and female, day and night, good and evil, etc. Nothing can be fully understood on its own, only as part of its duality.

This completes Part 11 of my series on Ajijic's wonderful murals. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please be sure to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely fashionl

Hasta luego, Jim

The Murals of Ajijic Part 10 of 12: Calle Juarez from the Carretera to Calle 16 de Septiembre

A giant female face covered with tattoos fills the wall of Siker Imprenta. Ojos de Dios (God's Eyes) are below her right cheek. These symbols are sacred to indigenous people in Mexico, most particularly the Huicholes (Wixáritari) The diamond pattern is woven on crossed sticks representing the Four Cardinal Directions (north, south, east, west). The green eye in the middle represents the center of the world. Upon the birth of a child, the father weaves the central eye and adds an additional layer each year until the child reaches five. An Ojo de Dios is a prayer for the child's long health and provides divine protection.

Siker Imprenta is a print shop on the corner of Calle Juaez and the Carretera, (the main street through Ajijic). There are additional murals on Siker's north side. In this posting, I will focus on Calle Juarez, which runs south to Calle Ocampo. There, it is renamed Calle 5 de Mayo, which runs down to the lakeshore. This is the only mural on Juarez between the Carretera and 5 de Mayo that contains a human image. All the rest include various animals (some mythical) or abstract images.

A wide-eyed chihuahua wears a penacho (head dress) of quetzal feathers. The background includes flowers and mountains, probably representing the view toward the south side of Lago de Chapala. The penacho, earrings and necklace are of the kind worn by Mexica (Aztec) aristocrats and those of other pre-hispanic civilizations. The green quetzal feathers were especially prized for this purpose and indicated a high rank. A penacho very similar to this one was given to Hernán Cortéz by Mexica Emperor Moctezuma. Part 4 of this series shows a mythical figure dressed much like this chihuahua.

Chihuahuas are a mix of pre-hispanic canines and small European dogs brought to the New World by the Spanish. Pre-hispanic dogs first arrived from Siberia 10,000 years ago. The DNA of modern chihuahuas contains about 4% of the genetic material from those ancient dogs. The pre-hispanic people raised dogs as both pets and for food. The Mexica revered a dog-god called Xoloti or Xolotl whose purpose was to guide the sun through the underworld during the night and was considered to be the god of fire and bad luck. The muralist left no name or date. The word "Sayer" in left corner refers to a brand of paint local artists use.

This fantastic creature is a mix of a panther, an eagle, and a horned dragon. The intense expression on its face strongly suggests that something is being stalked. The prey is probably the colorful armadillo you will see in the next photo. The mural can be found on the west side of Juarez, just south of Calle Zaragoza. There was no artist's name or date.

Pre-hispanic images contain of a variety of composite creatures from multiple species. In Aztec mythology, a primordial sea monster called Cipactli was a mix of crocodile, fish, toad, and serpent. Many pre-hispanic civilizations revered Quetzalcoatl, a god who had the body of a serpent but the feathers of a bird. The Olmecs produced multiple sculptures of Were-Jaguars, which were half-human and half jaguar. 

A small armadillo stands its ground against the panther/eagle/dragon. Armadillos look just like this little guy, only without the bright colors. Instead, the bodies of living armadillos are in various shades of brown, providing fairly decent camouflage against predators. Their Spanish name means "little armored one" and refers to the leathery shell that covers most of the body. When threatened, an armadillo sometimes rolls itself up into an impenetrable ball. The Aztecs called them ayotochtli, meaning "turtle-rabbit" a name that also seems to fit.

A Feathered Serpent drapes itself over the door of a shop selling maiz (corn). The shop's sign reads "The Sons of the Corn! We are sons of the same Cob". The Feathered Serpent is the personification of Quetzalcoatl, who was worshipped by many ancient Mesoamerican cultures. The Maya called him Kulkulkan and the great staircases on the pyramid called El Castillo at Chichen Itza are decorated with Feathered Serpents.

At the bottom, almost as an afterthought, the muralist has included an agave plant framed by two rabbits. The agave was a very useful plant for pre-hispanic people. The fibers from its leaves made string, baskets, and sandals. The spines at the ends of the leaves became needles. The heart of the agave produced a mildly alcoholic beverage called pulque. Rabbits also had an association with pulque. The Aztec god called Ome Tochtle, meaning "Two Rabbits", was the god of drunkenness.

Detail of the Feathered Serpent's head. The muralist has apparently done his homework because this image is a close match to the Feathered Serpent I saw at the Great Citidel in Teotihuacan. Note the gourd clutched in the left claw of the serpent. The liquid spilling out is probably pulque. Could it be that the Feathered Serpent is sloshed? Given his expression, the languid way he is draped over the door, and the presence of the agave and the rabbits, this is a distinct possibility. 

Forming the end of the serpent's tail is an ear of ripe blue maiz. There is a complicated Aztec myth about Quetzalcoatl's creation of human beings and the discovery of life-giving maiz. The short version is this: Quetzalcoatl was one of the Creator Gods who formed the world. Quetzalcoatl was given the task of populating it.  

After many adventures in the Underworld, the Feathered Serpent managed to create human beings, but they were weak because they had nothing to eat. With the assistance of some ants, he discovered kernels of maiz and taught humans how to grow them into food. The muralist was Noel Chalez, who completed the mural in 2023. His gallery is located at Calle Marcos Castellanos #2, Ajijic.

 

Lovely mural of a feeding hummingbird. This is part of a larger mural on the west side of Juarez. Unfortunately, the other part was partially damaged, so I just included this detail. There are at least 5 species of hummingbirds that inhabit the area around Ajijic. Several of them regularly came to feed on the flowers on the terrace garden of our home. In 2013, I did a blog post about a local woman known as Flossie the Hummingbird Lady She maintained numerous feeders that attracted swarms of them. Flossie has since moved back to the U.S. and her hummingbird oasis is gone, but there are still plenty of these birds around.

The Aztecs revered hummingbirds, believing them to be the spirits of warriors who died in battle. The Nahuatl word for hummingbird is huitzilin (wee-tzeel-een). The most important Aztec deity was Huitzilopochtli, the god war and the sun. His name means "Hummingbird of the South". According to their creation myth, Huitzilopochtli's mother was Coatlicue  (Skirt of Snakes). She picked up a hummingbird nest while sweeping out her temple. This act impregnated her, resulting in the birth of Huitzilopochtli, who was born as a full-sized adult warrior. 

A parrot in flight decorates a wall on the northeast corner of Juarez and Ocampo.  The muralist, who is unidentified, accurately portrayed this beautiful bird. There are 150 species of neotropical parrots, including 22 species in Mexico. I saw some of them in the wild in Mexico's lowland areas and also in Guatemala and Costa Rica. At ancient sites such as Cacaxtla, archeologists have found pens that some believe were used for raising parrots. Their feathers were a valuable item traded as far north as the ancient communities within today's New Mexico and Arizona. In return, those ancient people sent back turquoise. 

A pair of huge Monarch butterflies decorate the west side of the street. Monarchs are a symbol of Mexico, like mariachis or tequila. Their population makes an epic round-trip migration from the state of Michoacan to the northern U.S. and Canada and back. However, no single monarch makes this whole trip. It is a multigenerational effort. I visited their nesting area  deep in the mountains of Michoacan while on a trip to the colonial-era city of Morelia. I was overwhelmed by their beauty and their vast numbers.

Butterflies, like hummingbirds, figure prominently in Mesoamerican mythology.    Teotihuacan was the capital city of the greatest civilization of that ancient world. Butterflies  appear there on ceramics, incense burners, and wall paintings. To the ancient people, they represented transformation and the return of the dead. Butterflies were believed to contain the souls of the deceased. Orange, the color of Monarchs, is widely used during Mexico's celebration of the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Every November 2, a great fiesta celebrates the return of the dead to visit their relatives.

A desert scene with two small dogs fills the wall of this home on the west side of Juarez.

The dogs are not stylized, but appear to be genuine portraits, so they are probably the pets of the home's owner. The scene also contains a large saguaro cactus and three flowering barrel cacti, two plants native to Mexico that I discussed in Part 9. The bougainvillea plant spilling over the wall at the top is real (not painted). Bougainvillea blooms all year throughout Ajijic. The muralist is Victor Alcazar. I showed his murals and studio on Calle 16 de Septiembre in Part 8 of this series. He painted this scene in 2023.

 

A vision of Lago de Chapala and Ajijic. This mural can be found on the wall of a home on the east side of Juarez. It is located about 1/2 way between Ocampo and 16 de Septiembre. The rust colored steeple of Ajijic's Parroquia (Parish church) rises in the bottom left. In the upper right, the rising sun looks like the spokes of a ship's wheel. In the center, a boat floats on blue water while wild vegetation sprouts along the shore. There was no artist's name or date.

A proud papá treats his sons to ice cream. I decided to end this posting with the photo above. While hunting murals along Juarez, I encountered this trio and asked permission to take their photo. As Mexicans so often do, they kindly agreed. Like many of the murals I have shown in this series, the photo captures the essence of the Mexico I have come to love. 

This completes Part 10 of my series on Ajijic's street art and murals. I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim