Pobres, Pero Felices: "Hay brujas aquí" - “There are witches here”

Another day in Santa Rita Tlahuapan. Just cannot keep to the plan.

Omar's brother Mario and Esther took us to the most amazing place. We are not sure just where we were, Omar said it was at the town of Juarez Coronaco, which we passed through, but judging from a sign on a schoolhouse right next to the ruins, we were at San Matis Tlalancaleca. Don't look for it on the map. You won't find it.

Church from inside ruins of main building

The plan was to drive to a beautiful spot on the Rio Frio. But where we ended up was at the ruins of Hacienda Molina de Guadalupe, Roges thinks. Driving the winding country roads of Puebla state is a lot like driving in West Virginia, at least in the highlands west of the Valley of Puebla. As we turned around a curve and descended a hill approaching a pueblita (small town), we could see the ruins of a once-imposing church. It was a very picturesque setting, and we were about to suggest stopping for photographs on the return, when they turned off the road and parked in front of it. They had an unannounced plan.

Main building with watchtower and entry gate, perhaps leading to the town

Looking around, we saw ruins scattered everywhere. Next to the church was a huge building. At first, we were not sure what it had been, a military headquarters or a residence. Omar suggested the initials on a tower – M.G.P. - might stand for Militar General Popular. Perhaps he was guessing, but it's as good an hypothesis as any other. Especially considering what was to come. It could have been a grand hacienda house at one time, or a headquarters building, or a general's residence. What it means is, Roger has a research topic to investigate when he returns home.

Interior of main building

Watch tower from inside ruins

Esther and Mario

Likely barracks

Further down the road were two more large buildings. The lower one may have been a barracks, but the upper one was unquestionably more defensive – moat, gun emplacements, magazine.

On the hills around are many adobe walls and residential ruins, we would have to take days to photograph it to record a site. Roger guesses it was started in the late 19^th century and was not abandoned until early 20^th century. We'll see how good a guess that is.

Plan for tomorrow: the pre-hispanic ruins at Cholula.

Your turistas in Mexico,

Roger and Karen