Cuexcomate Geyser is a unique natural wonder located in the city of Puebla, Mexico.
The Cuexcomate crater is an empty cone of an extinct geyser. The sinter cone of this inactive geyser, built around its opening, is 13 meters high and 23 meters in diameter. The central crater inside the cone is up to 8 meters wide and 17 meters deep (4 meters below ground level).
The geyser attracts tourists interested in geology and natural attractions. Cuexcomate is mistakenly called the smallest volcano in the world. But despite its diminutive size, Cuexcomate has significant geological and cultural significance in the region.
Visitors can climb a spiral staircase built inside the crater to reach an observation deck at the top, which offers panoramic views of the surrounding landscape and the city of Puebla. The place is also surrounded by lush vegetation, which adds to its picturesque charm.
Although Cuexcomate is not an active geyser in the traditional sense, its unique geological origin and accessible location make it an attractive stop for travelers exploring the volcanic history and natural beauty of the region.
The site is part of a wider volcanic landscape that largely defines the geography and cultural heritage of central Mexico.
The formation of Cuexcomate is associated with volcanic activity that characterizes the area around Puebla. It is classified as a maar, a type of volcanic crater formed by a phreatomagmatic eruption caused by the interaction of magma with groundwater.
Over time, the eruption created a small, shallow crater that has remained dormant ever since.
The last eruption of the geyser was in 1562, although it only spewed gases and boiling water, its structure is more similar to that of a volcano. Inwardly, it continues to be connected to Popocatepetl, which is why it could launch water again.
The word Cuexcomate comes from the Nahuatl language and means “place to keep” or “warehouse”.
In prehispanic times, the Cuexcomate Geyser was used to store meals and dispose of dead bodies. It was said that in ancient times, the people of Puebla threw the bodies of suicide victims into the crater because they did not deserve to be mourned or buried.
The people living around the geyser were called ‘children of the devil’ or ‘under the devil’s rule’.
During the New Spain period, it was the place of reception for sinners, inside it the suicides were thrown since they were not worthy of the requiem for their souls nor did they take place in the holy field.
A description of Cuexcomate from the year 1585 says:
“..at one league from this city, there is in a large grassland… in a circular shape, a rock of 6 or 7 estados high, at the top of which there is a great mouth as if it were made to hold a waterwheel. The which is very deep, and at the bottom of which there is foul-smelling water. There they say that in the heathen days, they threw in natives to be sacrificed to their idols”
Later it was transformed into a garbage dump, people threw their waste inside and it was about to be covered.
Currently, it is possible to enter through the crater, where there are spiral-shaped stairs that allow one to descend to the interior of the crater, into the excavated interior of the structure, where cultural events are occasionally performed.
Visitors can descend to the interior of the Cuexcomete crater from 10:00 to 18:00.
At the bottom, there is sulfurous water that rises from the caves, which has not been studied.
Legends say one of the underground Puebla City’s tunnels runs from the hill of Loreto to the hill of San Juan (now the hill of La Paz) and from there to the Cuexcomate Geyser, then crosses under the Atoyac River and continues to the Pyramide of Cholula.
Cuexcomate formed in what would later become the town of La Libertad and in 1943 it became part of the city of Puebla. On November 27, 1970, a plaque was placed around the sides of the Cuexcomate Geyser to commemorate the founding of La Libertad.
The geyser is located in the square of the same name.
