Magical Town, magic mountain: this intriguing ancient city still towers over a charming Pueblo Mágico

This archaeological site boasts ancient artifacts and futuristic ways of seeing them

Published October 29, 2022

By John Pint

Teúl de González Ortega, located near the south end of the state of Zacatecas, is one of Mexico’s most beautiful and interesting towns: a Pueblo Mágico (Magical Town) truly deserving of the name, conveniently located right next to an amazing archaeological site.

“Let’s go visit the Cerro de Teúl,” I suggested to friends in Guadalajara,  where I live.

I got a lot of blank stares… and then: “Where is it?”

Next thing I knew, there I was, The Old Gringo, telling my Mexican friends about one of their own treasures.

But perhaps their lack of knowledge is understandable: the Cerro de Teúl archaeological site — located where a pre-Hispanic city was built on a mountain — only opened to the public in 2018 after a decade of excavation. Researchers say it has at least 17 — if not 19 — centuries of history.

“It’s a two-hour drive from Guadalajara, straight north along an excellent highway, through one of the more picturesque canyons in Mexico, la Barranca de San Cristóbal, and right now (October) the roadside is festooned with vast stretches of wildflowers.”

Inevitably, the next question was: “Is it safe?”

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