Introduction

Xalapa (also spelled Jalapa, and pronounced ha-la-pa) is the capital of Veracruz and an attractive hillside college town. Located 66 miles (106 km) north of the port or a two-hour bus ride away, Xalapa and the nearby colonial town of Coatepec offer some interesting sights.

Xalapa’s main attraction is the spectacular Museum of Anthropology, which displays some 3,000 artifacts, including seven of the 10 colossal Olmec stone heads known to exist (two are at Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology, and one remains where the giant relics were originally found, in San Lorenzo, in the southern part of the state).

It was the Olmecs who established the first civilization in the New World, starting around 1000 BC. Much of what you see at the museum influenced future cultures throughout Mesoamerica, and even North America.