San Pedro Cholula is a municipality in the Mexican state of Puebla and one of two municipalities which made up the city of Cholula. The city has been divided into two sections since the pre Hispanic era, when revolting Toltec-Chichimecas pushed the formerly dominant Olmec-Xicallanca to the eastern side of the city in the 13th century. The new lords called themselves Cholutecas and built a new temple to Quetzalcoatl on the San Pedro side, which eventually eclipsed the formerly prominent Great Pyramid of Cholula, now on the San Andrés side. When the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, the city of Cholula was an important religious and economic center, but the center of power was on the San Pedro side, centered on what is now the main city plaza and the San Gabriel monastery. The division of the city persisted and San Pedro remained the more dominant, with Spanish families moving onto that side and the rest of the population quickly becoming mestizo. Today, San Pedro is still more commercial and less residential than neighboring San Andrés with most of its population employed in industry, commerce and services rather than agriculture. Although Cholula's main tourist attraction, the Pyramid, is in San Andrés, San Pedro has more tourism infrastructure such as hotels, restaurants and bars.
San Pedro as part of the city of Cholula San Pedro is one of two municipalities which make up the city of Cholula, or formally Cholula de Rivadavia. This city is divided into eighteen barrios or neighborhoods, ten of which are on the San Pedro side. The division of the city into two semi-separate halves has its roots in the pre Hispanic period, when the Olmec-Xicallancas were pushed to the east side of the city by the rebelling Toltec-Chichimeca ethnicity. The division remained in the colonial period with San Pedro quickly becoming a mix of Spanish and indigenous with San Andrés remaining mostly indigenous for the rest of the period. Today, San Andrés still has the higher indigenous population.
When the Spanish arrived the San Pedro side was still dominant, with the Quetzalcoatl Temple (on which now stands the San Gabriel monastery) overshadowing the Great Pyramid of Cholula, which was already overgrown. This side contains what is considered the center of the city, large plaza with several important buildings, including the San Gabriel monastery, facing it.
What keeps the city united socially is a complex calendar of religious and social events with the costs and efforts associated with them rotated and shared among the various "barrios" or traditional neighborhoods. Among the important shared festivals, there are Carnival, the Vaniloquio, when the bells of the city's churches ring in coordination, Holy Week, La Bajada, when the image of the Virgin of the Remedies comes down the pyramid to visit the various neighborhoods and the most important, the feast day of the Virgin of the Remedies on 8 September.
These and other traditions have roots in the pre Hispanic period. Many Cholutecans still use their pre-Hispanic surnames, such as former town stewards Raymundo Tecanhuehue and Humberto Tolama Totozintle. This is because a number of the old Indian nobility was allowed certain privileges after the Conquest. The town chronicler still refers to the barrios as calpulli, the pre-Conquest political organization of neighborhoods.
Another unifying factor is a straight street grid oriented in the cardinal directions. Most streets in the center are numbered with indications as to their location vis-à-vis the center, north, east, south or west. Outside the city center street names lose this system.
Landmarks
San Pedro is home to what is considered to be the main plaza or square the city, called the Plaza de la Concordia. In the morning, this plaza of Cholula is filled with vendors selling typical street food, sweets and handcrafted toys for children. On the west side of this plaza is the "Portales" (Portals). This is a commercial area framed by forty-six arches supported by Doric columns. These arches measure 170 meters long and are the longest in Latin American. (pedro his). The San Pedro municipal palace is located behind this commercial area, occupying a space which was called the Xiuhcalli, (House of Turquoise), where a council of nobles met in the pre Hispanic era.
On the south side of the plaza is the Museum of the City of Cholula, housed in a structure called the Casa del Caballero Aguilar (House of the Eagle Knight), one of the oldest residential structures in the area. This museum was opened in 2001 after extensive restoration of the colonial era building by INAH, the city and the Universidad de las Américas-Puebla. This work restored the original floor plan and much of the carved stone work. The museum traces the habitation of Cholula from about 1000 BCE. Three rooms display pre Hispanic artifacts, two contains colonial era items and one features a John O'Leary photographic exhibit of the city's religious festivals. Lastly, the facility also contains restorations laboratories run by UDLAP. The basis of the collection was a group of 1,500 artifacts donated by Omar Jimenez.
The main archeological attraction, the Great Pyramid of Cholula is actually in the municipality of San Andrés Cholula, marking where that part of the city begins. However, 154 hectares of the entire city have been declared archeological heritage. It is strongly believed that the Quetzalcoatl Temple lies beneath the San Gabriel monastery, but no excavations have been done on the site. Most excavations in San Pedro have been under streets and other public areas, especially when there has been construction, such as the laying of water pipes. However, there is widespread opposition to excavation in most of the zone, mostly because most of the land is privately owned.
More evident in San Pedro is a large number of Cholula's many churches. According to legend, Hernán Cortés promised to build one church here for every day of the year or for every pre Hispanic temple destroyed after the Cholula Massacre. In reality, there are only 37 for the entire city, 159, if all the chapels on surrounded haciendas and ranches are counted. The architectural styles of the churches vary from Gothic to Renaissance to Churrigueresque and Neoclassical, with many mixing elements of two or more styles. A number also have Talavera tile as a decorative feature, which is common in Puebla. A few have intricate stucco work done by indigenous hands. The city's churches contain more than 300 works of art, together valued at millions of dollars. However, due to increases in the theft of religious art, many churches have implemented extra security measures and some have stopped opening during the week.
The most important religious institution in San Pedro, and the second most important after the Sanctuary of the Virgen de los Remedios on the Great Pyramid, is the San Gabriel monastery. This monastery was established over the site of the destroyed Quetzalcoatl Temple in 1529 and one of the largest Franciscan friaries in Mexico. It was established first in the city, because this was the power center and the Franciscans had a limited number of monks in Mexico. The complex consists of a large atrium, a main church, a cloister area, and two important chapels which face the atrium area. Its architecture is rococo style Gothic.
The Franciscan friary is dedicated to the Archangel Gabriel. The complex is surrounded by a wall with pointed merlons which separates it from the main plaza of the city. There are three entrances to the atrium, but the main one is to the west, in front of the main church. The atrium is very large and most of it is in front of the two chapels. A second entrance in the atrium wall leads to this area, which may have been used for evangelization purposes and masses for the indigenous during the very early colonial period. In three corners of the atrium, there are chapels, called "capillas posas", with pinnacle roofs, simple arches which are closed off by railing. The atrium cross was sculpted in 1668. It is identical to that in the atrium of the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios sanctuary. The main church is one of the oldest in Mexico, which the first stone laid in 1549 by Martin de Hojacastro, who would be the third bishop of Puebla. The facade of the main church is smooth and its corners are reinforced with diagonal buttresses. The towers have arched windows, columns and a small dome topped by iron cross. The interior has a Latin cross layout, covered with vaults and a cupola. The altarpieces are made of wood and plaster and decorated in gold leaf. The main one is dedicated to the Virgin of the Remedies. The main portal is sculpted in sandstone in Renaissance style. The main doors are of wood and contain metal studs with different designs. The north portal has richer ornamentation. The interior is covered by vaults with Gothic nerves and arched window openings. It conserves a number of oil paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. The main altar of San Gabriel is Neoclassical, dating from 1897.
The cloister contains frescos with six religious scenes in a style similar to those at the former monastery of Huejotzingo. The upper floor has one called the Mass of Saint Gregory and the ground floor contains frescos with scenes from the life of Francis of Assisi, along with portraits of a number of Franciscan friars. The San Gabriel monastery is still inhabited by about fifteen Franciscan friars. In 1986, the monastery agreed to let part of their building be renovated and converted into the Franciscan Library, done in cooperation with the Universidad de las Americas. This library is open to the public on request. The monks were initially opposed to the project as they know the monastery sits on the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and did not want to be forced out.
The Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) is also called the Capilla de Naturales (Indigenous Chapel). It is located on the north end of the complex. It is similar to a mosque. It had never received any kind of royal recognition. There are twelve columns and twenty-four octagonal pilasters. Twelve of the pilasters support the entrances to the side chapels and have sixteen corbels. There are seven naves and forty-nine cupolas. The capilla real received its name because of a chapel inside dedicated to the Virgin of the Remedies, the patron of Cholula. The current interior was created in 1947. The façade has some Baroque elements, with its main entrance marked by a simple arch flanked by Corinthian columns and fluted pilasters. The choral window is flanked by Ionic columns. The crest is a pediment with a flutter. The holy water font dates from the 16th century. The base and cup are sculpted from one piece of stone. The base is decorated with acanthus leaves, other flowers and leaves and a simple molding a Franciscan cord.
The Capilla de la Tercera Orden is located between the Capilla Real and the main church. It is a small church with a Baroque portal and Salomonic columns. In the pendentives of the cupola, there are paintings of various important Franciscans. The altars are Neoclassical in white and gold.
The parish church of the San Pedro municipality faces that main square of the city and was built in the 17th century. The architecture is a mix of Baroque and Renaissance, which is uncommon in Mexico for the 17th century. The bell tower is Baroque and one of the tallest in the city. It has a Latin cross layout and a vaulted ceiling. The interior has been restored and contain a Churrigueresque cupola, along with 18th-century paintings such as depictions of Christ by Diego de Borgraf.
The various barrios or traditional urban neighborhoods and communities of the municipality have their own parish church dedicated to a patron saint, and some have more than this. The oldest of these churches dates from the 16th century and a number are painted in what is called "popular Baroque" with bright colors.