Teotihaucan

It's not often you get to walk the steps of a 2000 year old pyramid.

Teotihuacan is thought to have been established around 200 BC, until its fall sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD.

Teotihaucan is located 40km NE of Mexico City

At its zenith in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas. At this time it may have had more than 200,000 inhabitants, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period.

We arrived by mid morning, and the smog was already thick in the air.  Buying our tickets, we started to run the gauntlet of locals hawking souvenirs at us.  We were approached 100 times AT LEAST throughout the day, all of them trying to sell a variation on about 5 items… jade statue, jade letter opener, silver bracelets, masks or wooden carvings…

A couple of hundred of more guys selling trinkets

The first pyramid to come into view was the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, which is the third largest in Teotihuacan.

The Temple of the Feathered Serpant

The outside edges of each level are decorated with feathered serpent heads alternating with those of another snake-like creature, often identified as Tialoc.

From there, we made our way to the Museum, which houses some amazing artifacts and a full scale model of the city.

We signed the guestbook

After going through the museum, we exited the building out the back way, into the shadow of the Pyramid of the Sun, the largest Pyramid in Teotihaucan.

The Pyramid of the Sun

Size:

Height 233.5 feet / 71.2 metres

Base perimeter 2,932.8 feet / 893.9 metres

Side 733.2 feet / 223.5 metres

Angle of slope 32.494

Volume 41,841,817.68 feet / 12,753,386.03 metres

It's a bit of a climb at an altitude of 7082 feet.

Behind us, the Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Moon, from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun.

From the Top of the Pyramid of the Sun, it's a spectacular view (except for the smog)

We liked this sign and read it to say "No climbing the Pyramid with a broken heart"  So if your girlfriend just broke up with you... stay on the ground.

Broken hearted Pyramid climbing prohibited.

We continued down the Avenue of the Dead, which is flanked on both sides by huge rock walls covered in beautiful paint and plaster murals, some still in remarkable condition.

At the end of the Avenue of the Dead, is the Pyramid of the Moon.  Not as large as the Pyramid of the Sun, it is still an immense Pyramid.  You can only walk halfway up it.

Looking down the Avenue of the Dead towards the Pyramid of the Moon

Making my way up the Pyramid of the Moon (a second time, for a better photo opportunity)

Certainly a highlight of any trip, Teotihaucan is highly recommended for anyone visiting the Mexico City area.

Some Quick Facts:

1.  Who built it is not known and is subject to debate.  It may have been founded by the Nahua, Otomi or Totonac ethic groups.  It may also have been a multi-ethnic city.

2.  It is approximately 40km north east of Mexico City

3.  The site covers an area of 83km

4.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

5.  The name (Teotihuacan) was given by the Nahuatl speaking Aztec centuries after the fall of the city, and is not the name that the inhabitants knew it by.

6.  The original name is unknown, but it does appear in hieroglyphic texts from the Maya region as "Puh" or "Place of Reeds"

7.  The earliest buildings date from 200 BC.

8.  The Pyramid of the Sun was completed in 100AD

9.  It is the third largest Pyramid in the world, after the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Pyramid of Cholula, Mexico.

10.  The city fell between 600 and 800 AD.  Knowledge of the huge ruins of Teotihuacan was never lost.  After the fall of the city, various squatters lived on the site, and it astonished the Spanish during the post-conquest era.

From the top of the Pyramid of the Moon, looking back down
the Avenue of the Dead, the Pyramid of the Sun is on the left.

Tree pose at the top of a Pyramid