When you visit Veracruz on the east coast of Mexico, a tour of the El Tajín pyramids near Papantla is a must. It is the biggest attraction. The city, famous for having 17 ballcourts, was a key trade and agricultural center but died out three centuries before the arrival of Spanish invaders. At the end of visit I saw the Voladers in "flight" (video) which later I discovered by accident that it was the same performed in the area for centuries as illustrated by early travelers (book cover).

Wikipedia: When it was rediscovered by officialdom in 1785, the site was known to the local Totonac, whose ancestors may also have built the city, as El Tajín, which was said to mean “of thunder or lightning bolt”....

From 600 to 1200 C.E., El Tajín was a prosperous city that eventually controlled much of what is now modern Veracruz state. The city-state was highly centralized, with the city itself having more than fifty ethnicities living there. Most of the population lived in the hills surrounding the main city, and the city obtained most of its foodstuffs from the Tecolutla, Nautla and Cazones areas. These fields not only produced staples such as corn and beans but luxury items such as cacao. One of the panels at the Pyramid of the Niches shows a ceremony being held at a cacao tree. The religion was based on the movements of the planets, the stars and the Sun and Moon, with the Mesoamerican ballgame and pulque having extremely important parts. This led to the building of many pyramids with temples and seventeen ballcourts, more than any other Mesoamerican site >>>

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