The cradle of ancient civilizations, the country of incomprehensible secrets, the state that gave the world almost the first mathematicians and astronomers, the birthplace of the Aztecs, Maya and other glorious tribes - all this, Mexico, is great and beautiful.
Here, a deep, gray-haired history is associated with every inch of the earth, and new excavations entail a train of fascinating plots and inexplicable mysteries. So it is with El-Tahin - an ancient amazing city, accidentally discovered by archaeologists under the thickness of the earth among the dense jungle.
El-Takhin was erected by the Totanaks in the 1st century AD, translated into Russian, the name sounds like "city of thunder". It was a significant administrative center with a population of 50 thousand people and one and a half hundred buildings, of which no more than fifty have been removed so far. The ancient temples, pyramids and palaces of El-Tahin are like a powerful magnet that attracts researchers, travelers and all lovers of archaism to these places.
Until the end of the eighteenth century, Europeans did not even know about its existence. Only in 1875 was the Nis pyramid accidentally discovered. The city, lost in the jungle and buried under a layer of earth, is in no hurry to part with its secrets.
In 1992, for its historical importance and unusual architecture, the city was awarded the title of World Heritage Site. The most important distinguishing feature of this architecture is the use of decorative niches and irregularly shaped cement elements.
Since the seventies of the twentieth century, among tourists, the city of El Tahin has been the most popular archaeological site in the whole of Veracruz. Every year in March, the Cambrai-Tahin festival is held here, during which you can plunge into the ancient culture of the Totonacs - the Indian people inhabiting this territory.
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In the center of the city there is a palace and temple complex, most of which were erected in the period from 600 to 900 AD.
The El-Takhin pyramid or the Nish pyramid is dedicated to the supreme god of thunder, Takhin, the patron saint of rain. From her, the city got its name, which translates as "Place of Thunder" or "City of Thunder".
The seven-tiered structure, whose height reaches 25 m, is decorated with 364 deep niches running along the ledges, which distinguishes the pyramid against the background of other buildings of pre-Columbian America and is the basis for its other name - "Pyramid of Nish". The pyramid of Niš is the most famous landmark of the city.
The Nis Pyramid is the main building and ceremonial center of the Totonac culture. At its top there was a traditional sacrifice site. At the base of the pyramid there is a square with a side of 35 meters. All seven tiers of the pyramid have square niches, painted red on the inside and decorated with reliefs depicting snakes. There are 365 such niches. Therefore, the pyramid may have symbolized the calendar.
On the eastern slope, a staircase is made, decorated with mosaics and numbering 364 steps plus one, representing the top, i.e. 365 steps - the same number of days in a year.
The niche pyramid is considered a masterpiece of ancient Mexican and American architecture.
The Column Building is located in the highest part of the city. At the base of the building are visible the remains of columns, 1.2 m in diameter. The columns are decorated with bas-reliefs depicting priests and warriors. A number of bas-reliefs depict human sacrifices and hieroglyphs describing the city's ruler.
Archaeologists have also found a unique object not found anywhere else in America - the image of a laughing human face.
The roof of the building also deserves special attention - it is covered with slabs of cement, a material unknown at that time.
Prosperous in 600-1200. AD, the city was destroyed at the beginning of the XIII century. The fire, as scientists assume, forced the inhabitants of the city to leave it. Green tropical forests have reliably hidden it for many years.
Now the "Pyramid of Nish" in El Tahin, like other archaeological sites of the city, is under threat of extinction. Due to the high level of acidity of the air and acid rain, the carved stone in the bas-reliefs is rapidly deteriorating, and if nothing changes, within 15-20 years the City of Thunder will be visible only in photographs and Mexican postage stamps.
In 1992, El Tahin was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The city of Thunder managed to stand for 15 centuries, and during this time El-Tahin has seen a lot: the fabulous heyday that fell in the 9th-13th centuries, and devastating enemy attacks, and the capture by the Spanish conquistadors, which fell on the 16th century and marked the final destruction the legendary city.
Of the ancient structures brought into the world by the efforts of archaeologists, pyramidal structures - temples that rise to the heavens with numerous terraces - attract more attention than others. The most famous is the Pyramid of the Niches, which consists of 7 tiers and 365 square niches carved into the boulders of which it is composed.
Is the coincidence of the number of depressions in the walls of the pyramid with the number of days in a year by chance? Having even a superficial idea of the multifaceted talents of the most ancient tribes who inhabited these places, we can assume that there is no place for chance - perhaps the famous building served as the prototype of the modern calendar.
Now the old building looks monochromatic - time turned out to be merciless to paints, but earlier the Pyramid was covered with multi-colored plaster, and the niches were painted in scarlet. But even today, each recess is decorated with a relief image of a snake.
The sides of the square, which serves as the lowest tier, are 35 meters, the height of the building is 18 meters. A staircase, skillfully decorated with mosaic elements, rushes along the eastern wall to the very top - where there is a platform that traditionally served as an altar for sacrifices.
The pyramid with niches is the most famous, but not the only legendary structure of El Tahin. At the highest point of the city, you can see the Column Building with ornamented niches, a roof covered with cement slabs and the remains of powerful columns. In addition to the outstanding buildings, the views of the travelers are also the grounds for sports competitions, and sculptural compositions, and household and cult objects.
The El Tahin Indians were big fans of the ritual ball game. Like the Roman gladiators, the participants in the game fought for their lives not to be sacrificed. In El Tahin, 18 stadiums have been discovered with carved bas-reliefs depicting the game on the walls. Art in El Taheen has reached such a high level that the sculptures of the Veracruz Indians are not inferior to the stone reliefs of the Mayan civilization. During archaeological excavations in the city, mysterious objects related to cult rituals were found - "yoke", or "yoke" and "palms", or "candles". "Yoke" is a horseshoe-shaped stone weighing up to 30 kg, similar in shape to a yoke, into which horses are harnessed, but decorated with a relief.
The player fastened this stone belt at the waist, and hit the rubber ball with a "palm tree". "Palms" are made in the form of trihedral prisms, which are stylized images of animals or people. According to one version, the "yoke" was used to squeeze the neck of the sacrificed player. The captain paid for the loss of the team with his own blood. One curious object contrasts with the bloody rites of the El Tahin Indians - the image of a laughing man. In other cultures of Mesoamerica, nothing like this is found.
Most of the territory of El Tahin has not been excavated, but the carved stone in its reliefs is rapidly deteriorating under the influence of acid rain. If the acidity level of the air does not change, then in 10-20 years the creations of the Veracruz Indians can only be seen in pictures or on stamps. In 2009, Mexico issued a series of collectible postage stamps depicting the El Tahin archaeological site.