El Tajin, an archaeological site in Veracruz State,Mexico north of the
port city of Veracruz and near Poza Rica.

20*28’N, 97*28’W   site aligned North/South

Now in a Totonac area, the original builders  of El Tajin are thought by
some researchers to be Huasatec who started construction in 100 AD.
Others believe that the Totonacs where the builders.t

Voladores perform a rope and pole dance at the entrance

Notable buildings include the Pyramid of the Niches, reportedly
constructed as a calendar with 365 niches built into a pyramidal shaped
building in 600 AD  

The culture flourished from 600 AD to 1100 AD  and ended in 1150 AD
or 1250 AD after being defeated.

17 ball courts discovered so far, I shaped courts, depictions of ritual
blood letting, piercing of the penis adorn the walls,
500 htrs  30,000 inhabitants
Museum
Site aligned North south
El Tajin, Veracruz, Mexico, Ruin Site, Pyramid of the Niches, 600 AD
El Tajin Pyramid of the Niches
El Tajin Ruin Site
Vera Cruz State, Mexico
El Tajin's
Pyramid of
the Niches
El Tajin as it would have looked with a
stucco covering on the walls and floors and red
painted walls.
El Tajin's most notable building the Pyramid of the Niches reportedly
has a niche for each day of the year
El Tajin Can be reached
by bus from Poza Rica or
Papantla
El Tajin was destroyed, archaeologists believe, in the 13th century when invaders form the Chicemec
culture defeated and burned the city.   El Tajin had been abandoned long before the Spanish arrived in
1519.

El Tajin shows influence from Teotihuacan in its early classic stages and Toltec influence in later
stages of buildings and art, but the art and building design of El Tajin are unique different than any other in
Mexico having a much more fluid and flowery style.

El Tajin's most notable building, the Pyramid of the Niches, is thought by some researchers to be a
stone calendar with a recessed niche for each day. The building has six tiers that make a stepped pyramid
60 feet high. Each tier has niches recessed into the wall.  A stairway on the east side leads to the top where
there had once been a temple.
El Tajin's Pyramid of the niches in
an early photograph before the first
scientific excavation and
restoration which started on 1943
and ran for 20 years.
Vendors outside are a friendly and
helpful group who don't mind giving a
bit of info on bus service. The buses
stop right in front of the entrance.
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El Tajin, Veracruz, Mexico, Ruin Site is famous for
its Pyramid of the Niches.
The Pyramidal building was constructed in 600 AD
at the El Tajin Archaeological Ruin site as a Stone
Calendar Building with 365 Niches
El Tajin, Veracruz, Mexico, Ruin Site is famous for its Pyramid of
the Niches, show above.  Some researchers  speculate that the
Pyramidal building was constructed in 600 AD with 365 Niches to
serve as a Stone Calendar Building.  
El Tajin Ruin Site is located in
Papantla, Veracruz State, Mexico  
and can be reached by bus service
from Poza Rica or Papantla.
ADO serves Poza Rica from Jalapa
and other cities including Tuxpan
and local buses make frequent runs
from the adjacent bus terminal in
Poza Rica.

El Tajin ruin is still being studied and
not much is known conclusively
about the founders. One theory has it
as a Totonac city built in the first
century AD that prospered as one of
the largest cities in the classic era
until the 13th Century.
El Tajin, Veracruz, Mexico, Ruin Site is famous
for its Pyramid of the Niches.
Pyramid of the Niches constructed in
600 AD with 365 Niches to serve as a
Stone Calendar Building.