Matlalcueitl (volcano)

The city of Puebla at the foot of the volcano Malintzin

Volcano Malintzin

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The Malintzin (or Matlalcuéyetl or Matlalcueitl or Malinche ) with its height of 4461 m one of the highest mountains in Mexico.

Location

The extinct volcano Malintzin is part of the Sierra Nevada, which in turn is itself only the eastern part of the Sierra Volcánica Transversal. Its highest peak is in the field of Mexican federal states of Tlaxcala and Puebla. The cities of Tlaxcala and Puebla are located approximately 30 kilometers (direct distance ) north-west and 35 kilometers southwest of the summit. The mountain is the center of a 55,000 acre, already set up in 1938, the National Park ( Parque Nacional Malintzin ( PNM ) ).

Toponym

The Nahuatl name Malintzin means " honorable grass Woman "; the tlaxcaltekische name Matlalcuéyetl is about to be translated "honorable woman with green rock ". Matlalcuéyetl ( another name of Chalchiuhtlicue ) was the wife of the Mexican rain god Tlaloc and mother goddess of vegetation and all life. The Spaniards and their allies Tlaxcaltecs named the mountain after Malinche, the translator and short-term mistress of Hernán Cortés.

Formation

Geologists date the origins of the mountain about 30 to 35 million years ago; the rock and ash content of various outbreaks justify his inclusion in the group of stratovolcanoes. Its last eruption is dated at the end of the 2nd millennium BC and thus the Malintzin regarded by many as extinct volcano. At the foot of the mountain smaller side craters have formed ( Xaltonele, Xalapasco, Cerro Cuatlapanga ); also there are some hot springs.

Importance

The winter snow cover melts in the spring, but at the latest in early summer completely. They form many smaller streams and rivulets, which supplied the people of earlier times with water; they also irrigated the fertile fields on the slopes of the volcano. By - begun in pre-Hispanic times and continued in colonial times - deforestation on its slopes, however, the soils are barely able to store water and slowly releasing it again.

Ascent

The Malintzin can be climbed as part of a day tour. At an altitude of about 3000 meters - that is about 800 meters above the cities of Puebla and Tlaxcala - there is a mountain hut (Centro Vacacional Malintzin ) with restaurants, sleeping places and camping facilities.