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The Mexica culture worshiped gods who were in charge of defining the destiny of the souls. They gods were Mictecacíhuatl and Mictlantecuhtli.
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Our ancestors believed that the man who went to the underworld continued to live, there he didn´t live the life but they live the death.
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A Tzompantli was created, it was an altar for death that illustrated the traditional passage from the earthly to the spiritual. Which had the characteristic of being formed by rows of skulls of people sacrificed in honor of the gods.
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Pre-Hispanic people were used to burying the dead with Xoloitzcuintle dogs as guides.
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On November 1 and 2 it was customary to celebrate All Saints' Day and the feast of the faithful departed, they blessed food and left it for the saints to eat.
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The tradition of the Day of the Dead came to Mexico in the 16th century, with the Spanish conquistadors, who practiced a ritual of medieval Christian Europe that consisted of setting a table with flowers and food to feed those who had already left.
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The Spanish arrived in Mexico generating a mixture of cultures so they began to adapt some European techniques, such as the famous alfeñique. This tried to replace the skulls of sacrificed people to transform it into something more innocent like a sugar-based figure, becoming in a tradition
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With the passage of time, already in the colonial years, they were adding elements of the region, for example the flower of cempasúchil, which had nothing to do with the dead, but was a flower dedicated to the god of war, Huitzilopochtli.
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In this century the custom of the day of the dead has already been established. On November 1, 1821, Mexico City celebrates the Day of the Dead as we know it.
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In 1833 the dead were buried in pantheons due to cholera, it was then when they decorate the pantheons
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The "Calaveritas literarias" began to be written during the 19th century and became very popular in the 20th. They are made in order to talk about death with a good sense of humor. Usually, we dedicate them to people who are close to us.
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José Guadalupe Posada made conical strips with the image of the garbancera skull, he was the first to represent death in a comical way.
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In 1940 to 1954 Diego Rivera changed the image of the skull garbancera to the catrina we know today.
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The celebration of the Day of the Dead was recognized by UNESCO as intangible heritage of humanity
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The most watched movies that talk about this wonderful party are ¨Coco¨ and ¨The book of life¨. This party is very present in pop culture
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The Day of the Dead celebration is very famous all over the world.
The party has become very famous thanks to all the social media, it is already part of the pop culture. -
In Mexico, we made mega offerings that are displayed in large cities, The principal is one in Mexico City's Historic Center, as well as a representative parade.
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It is also very common for children to go out and ask for their sugar skulls from door to door on November 2nd
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Among the most important tourist destinations to visit during the Day of the Dead are:
- Pátzcuaro, Michoacán
- Huautla de Jimenez, Oaxaca
- Pomuch, Campeche
- Xochimilco, Mexico City
- Huasteca Potosina, San Luis Potosi