Papantla (Spanish: [paˈpantla] ⓘ) is a city and municipality located in the north of the Mexican state of Veracruz, in the Sierra Papanteca range and on the Gulf of Mexico.

[3] The city contains a number of large scale murals and sculptures done by native artist Teodoro Cano García, which honor the Totonac culture.

Evidence of these cultures can be found at nearby archeological sites such as Cempoala, El Tajin, San Lorenzo and Tres Zapotes.

During the rest of the pre-Hispanic period the site belonged to the Pueblos del Totonacapan, dominated by Tuzapan, and paid tribute to the Aztec Empire.

[1][3] It was made the seat of the region called Totonacapan, which encompassed the modern municipalities of Cazones, Coatzintla, Coyutla, Espinal, Coxquihui, Chumatlan, Filomeno Mata, Gutiérrez Zamora, Mecatlán, Poza Rica, Progreso de Zaragoza, Tecolutla, and Zozocolco de Hidalgo.

[1][2] In 1785, the nearby ruins of the pre-Hispanic city of El Tajín were accidentally discovered by Spaniard Diego Ruiz, while he was looking for clandestine plantings of tobacco.

[1] As during the War of Independence, indigenous peoples of the area rebelled against the regime of Porfirio Díaz in the late 1890s, just prior to the Mexican Revolution.

Problems to be resolved included the large number of street peddlers, the need to bury telephone and electrical lines and the need to paint many of the houses in the historic center.

This building contains two murals: one about the Totonacs by Teodoro Cano Garcia and the other by Xolotl Martinez Hurtado de Mendoza.

On the underside of the kiosk is a mural by Teodoro Cano Garcia which depicts the indigenous concept of creation, as a world with four suns.

[2] On the atrium wall is a sculpted mural by Teodoro Cano Garcia which depicts the evolution of Totonac culture superimposed on the body of the god Quetzalcoatl.

[1] The Chapel of Cristo Rey is located on Madero Street and is modeled after the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

[1] This hill also serves as a scenic lookout and contains a mural which narrates the ceremony from the cutting of the tree to the execution of the descent.

[1] The Museo de la Ciudad is located on Pino Suárez Street and contains exhibits from the pre-Hispanic, colonial and post-Independence periods.

The Museo de las Mascaras contains a collection of over 300 masks from Totonacapan and other parts of Mexico, located in the community of San Pablo.

[8] Other museums include the Museos del Totonacapan and the Casa de Cultura's permanent collection of paintings and sculpture.

However, the major festival for this city is the feast of Corpus Christi, which features processions, and indigenous dances such as the tocotines, guaguas, negritos, Santiagueros and voladores.

In 1957, a more secular event called the Festival of Corpus Christi was added to run concurrently with the religious rites.

In 1958, the celebration of “Juegos Florales” (flower arrangements) and the Festival Xanath began to distinguish the event from others in the area.

The Xanath Festival was begun by Mariano Torres Carreño and Hector Ventura de Castro with the aim of presenting Totonac culture to the city and make the residents proud of their heritage.

[1] The altar is called a pachau and the lack on one in the home can bring on social rejection for violating community norms.

Each rope is wound around the top of the pole thirteen times, which by four equal 52 and corresponds to the Mesoamerican ritual calendar.

One essential element of the dance is the construction of a wooden cross which turns in a vertical position, representing the basis of creation and the genesis of cosmic life.

Dancers dress in red pants, which have been elaborately embroidered, white shirts and a decorated cloth that goes across the chest.

But the most distinctive apparel is the headdress, which is a large circle of woven ribbons with loose ends hanging around down the back.

[13] Papantla is the heart of Mexico's vanilla-growing region, called Totonacapan and the spice has been grown and trade here since well into the pre-Hispanic period.

In the early colonial period, the Spanish quickly exported vanilla to Europe and a number of cultivators became wealthy.

[16] In spite of this, the Academy of Sciences and Gastronomic Arts in Paris in 1921 chose to pay homage to the Totonacs who discovered vanilla.

The area is heavily forested with subtropical perennial foliage with trees such as the heliocarpus, laurel, cedar and ceiba.

Tourism is becoming an important part of the economy, based on the area's archeological sites, beaches and traditions, especially the Danza de los Voladores.