Quiahuiztlan

An ancient Totonac city, cemetery, and fortress perched on Cerro de los Metates in Actopan municipality, Veracruz, overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. The site flourished from the Classic period (1st-9th centuries AD) and features two pyramids, 78 tombs arranged across three cemeteries, and a rare circular pyramid used for religious ceremonies. Its inhabitants were unique in Mesoamerica for burying their dead in miniature temple-shaped tombs. When Hernan Cortes arrived in 1519, approximately 15,000 people lived there, and a crucial alliance between the Spanish and 30 Totonac peoples was forged at the site, facilitating the Conquest of Mexico.