El Tajín Chico

Veracruz


El Tajín Chico was the government area of the ancient city and would have been home to the ruling classes. Many of the buildings at El Tajín Chico have geometric stone mosaic patterns known as ‘Greco’ (Greek). The raised level here gives an excellent view of the lower site.

The path north toward Plaza El Tajín Chico passes the Juego de Pelota Norte (Northern Ball Court), which is smaller and older than the southern court and has fainter carvings on its sides.

Edificio I, probably once a palace, has some terrific carvings and beautifully preserved, blue, yellow and red paintwork. Edificio C, on the east side, with three levels and a staircase facing the plaza, was initially painted blue and sports some unusual whorled decorations. Edificio A, on the plaza’s north side, has an arch construction known as a corbeled arch, with two sides jutting closer to each other until they are joined at the top by a single slab, which is typical of Maya architecture. Its presence here is yet another oddity in the jigsaw puzzle of pre-Hispanic cultures.

Northwest of Plaza El Tajín Chico is the unreconstructed Plaza de las Columnas (Plaza of the Columns), one of the site’s most important structures. It originally housed a large open patio and adjoining buildings stretching over the hillside. Some wonderful reassembled carved columns are displayed in the museum.


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1. Pirámide de los Nichos

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El Tajín’s most emblematic structure, the beautifully proportioned Pyramid of the Niches, is just off the Plaza Menor. The six lower levels, each…

2. Juego de Pelota de Las Pinturas

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The Juego de Pelota de las Pinturas (Ball Court of the Paintings), to one side of the Pirámide de los Nichos, is so called as it has two very impressively…

3. Plaza Menor

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Beyond the Plaza del Arroyo in the south of the site, flanked by pyramids on four sides, is the Plaza Menor (Lesser Plaza), part of El Tajín’s main…

4. Juego de Pelota Sur

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Some 17 ball courts have been found at El Tajín. The Juego de Pelota Sur dates from about 1150 and is the most famous of the courts, owing to the six…

5. El Tajín

0.27 MILES

No one knows for sure who built this mighty pre-Hispanic city of around 20,000 inhabitants (The Totonacs? The Huastecs?), which is why archaeologists…

6. Museo El Tajín

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Do drop in to the on-site museum at the entrance to El Tajín (included in your ticket price) to see an excellent model of the site. It also displays a…

7. Parque Israel C Téllez

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The bustling heart of Papantla, there always seems to be something going on in or around this zócalo terraced into the hillside – head here on Friday…

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