Archeological Sites
The most important archeological site in the region is El Tajín, located near Papantla, and is one of the largest and most important cities of the Classic era of Mesoamerica. A part of the Classic Veracruz culture, El Tajín flourished from 600 to 1200 C.E. and during this time numerous temples, palaces, ballcourts, and pyramids were built.
El Tajín was named a World Heritage Site in 1992, due to its cultural importance, especially to the Totonac people and its architecture. This architecture includes the use of decorative niches and cement in forms unknown in the rest of Mesoamerica. Its best-known monument is the Pyramid of the Niches, but other important monuments include the Arroyo Group, the North and South Ballcourts and the palaces of Tajín Chico. Since the 1970s, El Tajin has been the most important archeological site in Veracruz for tourists, attracting over 650,000 visitors a year.
The next most important site is Cempoala which during the height of the Totonacs, was the most important city. It was still important when the Spanish arrived, but it became mostly abandoned afterwards.
The area contains some of the earliest known archeological sites in Veracruz such as Trapiche, Chalahuite el Viejón, Limoncito and Tlalixcoyan. One of the earliest sites dates to around 1500 BCE is Remojadas which is considered the center of a pre Totonac culture called by the same name.
Read more about this topic: Totonacapan