Both the landscape and the archaeological site are very impressive. The temples date to Aztec times and their construction hadn't been completed yet at the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores.
The main temple, of which you can see the interior in this picture, and the platform it is on are a monolithic structure that was cut out of the solid bedrock. The entrance is decorated in low relief to make it appear like the mouth of a snake through which you enter the temple, walking over its tongue. The shapes of the seats make it likely that the temple (and probably the whole complex) was used for ceremonial activities related to the Aztec eagle and jaguar warrior orders. We travelled to Malinalco from Toluca by taking the bus to Chalma and a taxi from there to Malinalco, but a much faster way is to take a taxi from Toluca to Tenancingo and another taxi from there to Malinalco. |
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