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Teotihuacán is a magnificent archaeological zone situated
about 50km northeast of Mexico City. The vast grid-plan
city was the biggest pre-Hispanic settlement in all of Mexico.
What happened here?
The building of a city on the site of Teotihuacán began
around the time of Christ, although the Pyramides del Sol
y de la Luna were completed some time between 150 and
300 AD. Incredibly, the city was built without the use of
metal, cattle, or even the wheel.
At it's height in the 6th century AD, there were more than
200,000 people living in Teotihuacán, and it is likely
that this was the biggest of all the pre-Hispanic Empires,
controlling southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and parts of
Honduras. Teotihuacán was an advanced civilisation,
which had writing, books, a numerical system and a religious
calendar.
In the 7th century AD, Teotihuacán was burned, plundered
and abandoned. No one really knows the reason for this sudden
downfall, and archaeologists can only guess at the history,
culture, society, language and religion of the people who
lived here. Nonetheless, Teotihuacán exerted a great
deal of influence on later cultures: the Aztecs adopted a
number of their gods and Aztec priests used to make pilgrimages
here. In fact, it was the Aztecs who gave the place the name
Teotihuacán, which means 'the place that men became
gods'.
What's there to see and do?
The site is open daily from 8am to sunset, though it's advisable
to arrive early, as even if you have a whole day to spend
at the site it's impossible to see everything.
Explore the four mile long Street of the Dead, the
Citadel complex, which was the residence of the city's
ruler, numerous palaces and temples and climb the majestic
Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, from the top of which
you can look out over the entire site.
Visit the museum, located just outside the complex, where
artifacts, maps and models of the site are on display. |
