In southern Mexico, tunnels have been discovered under a centuries-old church that were considered the “entrance to the other world” for the Zapotec civilization.
The name of the settlement Mitla means “place of the dead”. It was a city known for its association with Pitao Bezelao, the Zapotec god of death.
According to a publication in the Daily Mail, in the 16th century, the Spaniards who arrived there destroyed the city and built their church on the ruins of its most important temple. One of the priests wrote then that under the city is the “back door of hell”. This is what the Spaniards called the huge caves that served as the entrance to the underground world of the Zapotecs.
However, they were closed by the conquerors, and subsequent excavations failed to reveal anything to match the extent of the underground caves described by the priest. Recently, archaeologists have used non-invasive techniques that have revealed a series of chambers and tunnels beneath the city.
Archaeologists have stated that some of the tunnels and chambers reach considerable depths, up to 30 meters. It might be even deeper, that’s just the limit of how far the tools can go. If these are the legendary tunnels, they could contain the remains of Zapotec kings.
The same priest, Francisco de Burgoa, described the royal burial chamber in his text Geografica Descripción from 1674. The sovereigns were buried “richly dressed in the most beautiful clothes”, with unique jewels. They held a spear and a shield in their hands, according to the customs of the military equipment of the time.
The other two caves contained the chapel and the burial chamber of the high priests. The priest also told about the last room he visited. It was a “dark and terrible room” where the bodies of chiefs killed in battle were thrown. The Zapotecs considered the underground labyrinth under Mitla to be the entrance to the afterlife, or Liobaa.
