A Hilltop Chapel and Pico de Orizaba
In early March 2020, right as the Coronavirus pandemic was spreading, I took a quick trip to Mexico. My goal was to visit some out of the way places in the state of Puebla that I had wanted to see for awhile. I waffled quite a bit on whether to go — with the status of travel up in the air, I worried a bit about any upcoming travel restrictions, and of course, whether I’d get sick or not. At the time, there were only four cases in Mexico, so it seemed safe enough to go.
On one particular day, I hired a taxi to take from the town I was staying in, Ciudad Serdan, out into the countryside to photograph a ruined hacienda, as well as a small church on top of a hill. I had spied the church on a satellite image of the area, and it appeared I could incorporate the massive mountain Pico de Orizaba in the background. Pico de Orizaba is the third highest mountain in North America at 18,491 feet.
The church is located near Santa Cruz Cuyachapa, which is pretty much just a few streets clustered around the main road, a really tiny place. I first photographed the church from outside the town, and then had the taxi drive into town as I was trying to center the church with the mountain behind it.
Hilltop chapel and Pico de Orizaba
I asked a few locals what the name of the church was, but promptly forgot (oops). Santo (saint) something, I am sure. I’ve been unable to find another photo of it, and it’s not marked on any maps, so who knows.
Nice photo. The smoker looks like it is pretty active.
My dad is from Santa Cruz cuyachapa. I can’t remember the name of the chapel either. But the chapel is right behind my house. The chapel looks so beautiful when the sun is rising. I also took my daughter to the hacienda near by. The one that’s in ruins for her graduation pictures. They turned out awesome! Nice to see our rancho being published