Travel Guide Volcans Popocatépetl Et Iztaccíhuatl

You can see them painted by Diego Rivera in the Government Palace of Mexico City. He depicted them in his mural of the beautiful city of Tenochtitlán - on which the present capital was built - with its canals and floating markets. Affectionately known as Izta and Popo by the people of Mexico City, Iztaccíhuatl means "White Woman" in Náhuatl and Popocatépetl means "Smoking Mountain. In Aztec legend, they form a couple: Iztaccíhuatl died of grief when she learned that her lover Popocatépetl, who had gone to war, had been killed. When Popocatépetl returned, he died of sadness when he heard of the fate of Iztaccíhuatl. But the gods took pity on the two lovers and covered them with eternal snows, turning them into mountains. Nowadays, only the Izta is open to the public. There are several ways to climb it, including an "easy" one. The others are reserved for experts. As the Popo is in activity, it is forbidden to climb it, and has been for the last ten years. But nothing prevents you from driving to the Paso de Cortés (3,680 meters) and then to La Joya (3,940 meters) and spending a beautiful day wandering through the magnificent landscape.