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.

Historian Elimilo Kouri argues in his book that these reforms benefited local elites and state officials, leading many indigenous people to organize legal and communal strategies to reclaim their lands.

The unrest surrounding land dispossession and the disconnect with the Diaz regime contributed to the revolutionary struggles that erupted during the 20th century.

The late 19th century was a period of profound transformation for Papantla, as the Mexican government under Porfirio Díaz pushed for the privatization of communal lands, to promote modernization and increase tax revenues.

This process, however, sparked fierce resistance from the Totonac people, who saw their ancestral lands being divided and sold to merchants and elites.

"[5] The resulting conflicts, including the 1891 uprising, foreshadowed the broader social unrest that would erupt during the Mexican Revolution, as rural communities across Mexico fought for land reform and justice.

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.

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 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.

[9] 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.

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.

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.

[14] 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.

Initially, the Totonacs gathered vanilla from wild orchids in the forests, but by the late 18th century, they began cultivating it in small plots, incorporating the crop into their traditional agricultural systems.

Unlike many other cash crops, vanilla did not require extensive land clearing or disrupt Totonac subsistence farming, instead providing an important supplementary income that was used for household needs, religious ceremonies, and community obligations.

After surpassing the French in consumption the United States was able to start setting the market prices instead of letting the cultivators in Papantla do that.

[22] However, vanilla transformed Papantla’s economy during the late 19th century, bridging the gap between Spanish, Italian, and mestizo merchants and Totonac farmers, though both groups had different visions for its impact.

While local elites saw vanilla as a path to modernization - fueling trade, infrastructure, and economic expansion - Totonac farmers valued it as a means of preserving their independence and traditional milpa-based economy.

Despite this growing divergence, Papantla’s social structure remained rooted in communal land ownership, with most of the population still relying on subsistence farming.

Internal tensions also persisted within the Totonac community over governance, commerce, and taxation, exacerbating existing social divides.

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.