La figuración del paisaje de Cholula a través de la mirada de Alexander von Humboldt: reflexiones sobre su transformación territorial y socio-cultural

Abstract

In 1894, Alexander von Humboldt made a series of measurements from the top of the Great Tlachihualtépetl Pyramid in Cholula. Humboldt's vision of landscape inspired such “respect” in him that it was reflected in his travel chronicles through the American continent. Humboldt was a pioneer in integrating geo-botany as a visual and landscape analysis tool, understanding the unity of nature as a “whole” with different scales and levels of analysis. For this reason, this research uses elements of Humboldt's Naturgemälde and those of Socio-ecological System of landscape (SES) to describe the physical transformation of the ru-urban landscape of Cholula. To represent this, a graphic analysis of different tissues that juxtapose the territory of Cholula is presented. This work observes how the Humboldtian spirit is exemplified in Cholula, where the territory must be recognized from the biocultural point of view, thus understanding the totality of the unity in Humboldt´s microcosm.