Popocatepetl Mountains

Popocatépetl, the “Smoking Mountain” of Nahuatl, rises above the southeastern edge of the Basin of Mexico. Beside the neighbouring Iztaccíhuatl, its great volcanic cone dominates the high country between the valleys of Mexico and Puebla. Its eruptions were recorded in indigenous codices from the fourteenth century onward. In 1519 Hernán Cortés described the column of smoke rising from the mountain as his expedition approached the basin.