| The
ancient city of Teotihuacan is located just 50 kilometers north-east of
the center of Mexico city and is well worth at least one or two days of
exploration. There are many restored buildings to explore,
as well as artwork and artifacts recovered from the site, as well as the
two enormous structures for which the city is best known, the Pyramid of
the Moon, shown here, and the even larger Pyramid of the Sun.
Unlike the
pyramids of Egypt, the pyramids at Teotihuacan aren't build of solid
stone, instead they consist of stone and brick rubble covered with layers
of cut stone, however they're still an extraordinary achievement, especially
since all this was done without the benefit of pack animals, metal tools
or the wheel. |
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| Here
you see the Pyramid of the Moon from across the Plaza of the Moon, which
is surrounded by 12 temple platforms. Surprisingly, no-one
knows who built Teotihuacan; the name itself is from the Aztec Nahuatl
language and is thought to mean the "city of the gods". The
Aztecs, who founded Mexico city, came on the scene much later and considered
the ruins they found at Teotihuacan to be sacred, making their own religious
pilgrimages there. Archaeological study has determined that
the main construction period started around 300BC, and continued for hundreds
of years until the city's violent destruction in the 7th century. |
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| The
Pyramid of the Moon photographed from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun.
The stairs on both pyramids begin on a stone structure which is attached
to the pyramid, but many people consider the Pyramid of the Moon to be
more graceful than the earlier Pyramid of the Sun. The large
stone altar in the middle of the Plaza of the Moon is thought to have been
used for ceremonial dancing. Around the extremities of the
plaza you can get a good idea of how the city must have looked to the first
Europeans, with most of the buildings, including the pyramids, completely
overgrown by a layer of vegetation. |
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| The
Palace of Quetzalpapalotl is located a short distance to the south-west
of the Pyramid of the Moon. This is thought to be the place
where the high priest lived, and is one of a number of former residences
of the nobility which have been restored and made open to visitors. |
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 The
name Quetzalpapalotl is Nahuatl for the "Quetzal butterfly" and it was
applied to this building because of carved images like this one which appear
on the columns surrounding the courtyard shown above. Some
of these images are thought to represent the quetzal bird, which was revered
by pre-European peoples living throughout central America.
Some of the images show a creature which is a combination of the quetzal
and a butterfly, hence the name.
The black volcanic
glass called obsidian forms the eyes of the birds; it seems rather odd
that the pieces of stone used to make the pillars are cut into irregularly
sized and shaped blocks, and also vary in texture and color from each other.
I'm not sure if some of the blocks are reconstructions, but even if they
are there's still a lot of irregularity in the construction of the pillar. |
| These
are the lintels and roof ornaments surrounding the courtyard.
There are many painted and carved designs of abstract geometric figures
in this palace; like other ancient American peoples, the builders of Teotihuacan
were extraordinarily skilled at observing and predicting astronomical events
and accurately recording the passage of time. This is one of
the very few buildings in the entire city whose roof line is still intact. |
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| There
are several other structures in the same small area as the Palace of Quetzalpapalotl.
This mural showing pumas with feathered head-dresses is in the appropriately
named Palace of the Jaguars. The figure in the five-pointed
stars above the pumas is the rain and maize god Tlaloc, probably the most
powerful god in ancient central America. From this palace you
can enter the subterranean Temple of the Plumed Conch Shells which has
murals of shells, perhaps outfitted as musical instruments, together with
birds spouting water, painted in green, blue, yellow and red. |
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| In
the last photo of the Pyramid of the Moon you can see a path which leads
to the south-east of the pyramid, which takes you to the Palace of Tepantitla,
which was also thought to be the residence of a priest. There
are an enormous number of murals scattered around the buildings at Teotihuacan;
several particularly valuable ones were discovered in this palace in 1942,
including this procession of priests in full ceremonial costume. |
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| Here's
a closeup from the previous mural. As well as paintings of
gods and animals like pumas, there are also many frescoes showing people,
like the priests in this mural wearing elaborate head-dresses.
The strange looking curved shapes in front of this person are actually
speech bubbles which signify that he is talking or chanting, though there's
no indication of what he is saying - unlike the Maya, the inhabitants of
Teotihuacan left no traces of a writing system. |
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| The
most famous painting in this palace is called The Paradise of Tlaloc.
The god Tlaloc is shown several times in frescoes, and in the one which
depicts his "paradise" many people are shown in the middle of a variety
of acts - diving and swimming in a river with fish, talking to each other,
eating, picking flowers and, near the top right-hand corner of this photograph,
holding hands between their legs! As you can see, there's an
abundance of speech bubbles, as well as various butterflies and other insects. |
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| Teotihuacan
once occupied an area of over 30 square kilometers and had a population
of between 150,000 and 200,000 people; in 600 AD it is estimated to have
been the sixth largest city in the entire world. It is bisected
by this broad road running north and south, which nowadays is called The
Avenue of the Dead, because of the mistaken Aztec belief that the buildings
which lined it were tombs. The Pyramid of the Moon is at the
avenue's northern end and the Pyramid of the Sun, which you can see here,
is to its east, about 500 meters south of the Pyramid of the Moon.
Look closely and you'll see a large number of people standing on the summit. |
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| The
Pyramid of the Sun, with an estimated weight of three million tons, is
much larger than the Pyramid of the Moon, and was also built earlier.
Each side is 222 meters long and it's over 70 meters high, making it the
third largest pyramid in the world by volume, after the Great Pyramid of
Cheops in Egypt and the unrestored pyramid at the Mexican city of Cholula.
Unfortunately because of the building method a lot of reconstruction was
needed to get it to its current state, and there's considerable uncertainty
about its original appearance. |
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| The
Aztecs believed that this pyramid was dedicated to the worship of the sun
god, and archaelogical research on the site appears to give support to
the idea. In 1971 a 100 meter long tunnel was found leading
from the pyramid's west side to a cave and a spring with religious items
directly beneath its center. It's thought that the pyramid
was once covered in a layer of plaster painted red, and that there was
a temple at the summit. |
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| There
are 248 steps up to the top, making it quite a long haul - higher than
a 21 storey building, and the altitude at this location makes it seem even
higher! However the view from the top is excellent and it's
worth going up to take in the sights with all of the other tourists and,
sometimes, the crystal wielding spiritualists who are still drawn by the
mystical power of this place. There are also a surprising number
of butterflies up there, participating in the mating behavior known as
"hill topping". |
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 Just
to the south of the Pyramid of the Sun is the main site museum, which is
the primary repository for artifacts discovered here.
There's a sculpture
garden outside the museum where stone items are displayed, like this water
drain and end piece, looking for all the world like a
gargoyle from one of the water drains on a medieval cathedral in Europe.
There's another museum
with murals and other items on the far western side of the site near gate
two, but unfortunately I didn't have time to visit. |
 There's
a very large collection on display inside the modern looking site museum,
including a huge model of the city as it would have been in its heyday,
right in front of a gigantic glass wall looking out on the Pyramid of the
Sun.
Teotihuacan was the
center of a large trading empire which included nearby cities such as Cholula
as well as much more distant population centers like Tikal in present-day
Guatemala, so there are also displays of trade items found at Teotihuacan
which originated from other sites. There's even evidence that
different ethnic groups might have had separate living areas within the
city.
Central Mexico was
a source of obsidian, highly prized here and elsewhere as a material for
making sharp knives. There are also tools such as mortars and
pestels made from rock, as well as pottery items.
There are a couple
of transplanted burial sites found here, showing how the bodies were laid
out with some of their possessions. There's also a large collection
of pottery containers and figures depicting gods like Tlaloc as well as
workers going about their trades, and nobles in their costumes.
Some of the figures are very imaginative, like the extraordinary article
shown here. |
| On
the far western side of the present-day archaeological site, a little under
a kilometer south of the Pyramid of the Sun, is a complex excavated in
the 1940s which is now called the Palace of Tetitla. There's
nothing much in the way of monumental architecture, but it's famous for
the murals which you can see here, which once covered the walls of the
many living areas within the complex. Unfortunately, as elsewhere
in Teotihuacan, most of the buildings have been demolished nearly down
to ground level, but what little remains is remarkable for its wealth of
artistry. |
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| Here's
a mural on one of the best preserved walls, identified as portico 11, mural
3. It shows The Great Goddess, with various motifs to represent
agricultural fertility. It's incredible that so much of the
rich red, yellow, blue and green has survived in such a damp environment,
especially since the surrounding building was derelict and unable to provide
much protection. I'm not sure how long articles like this will
survive being unearthed - although there was a sign directly above this
mural saying "no flash [photography]", the screen in front had not been
drawn, and sunlight was falling directly onto it. |
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 One
of several eagle images at this location, other animals include dogs, jaguars,
birds and snails.
People are depicted
performing ceremonies, and also secular acts like swimming with nets and
collecting shell fish. |
| At
the southern end of the Avenue of the Dead is the 400 meter square sunken
complex which the Spaniards called The Citadel, mistaking its high walls
and central courtyard for a fortification. In fact Teotihuacan
seems to have been a peaceful place until its fiery end came, and there
are no clear depictions of warriors or battles amongst its many murals.
Rather, the citadel seems to have been a living area for many of the city's
elite residents, and possibly a ceremonial area where most of the city's
inhabitants could be gathered together. |
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| The
most interesting structure within the citadel is the Temple of Quetzalcoatl,
the "plumed serpent", which was undergoing major restoration when I visited
in August of 2004. There are actually two temples, the later
of which completely covered the earlier one, in typical central American
fashion. This is the only structure at Teotihuacan whose stone
carvings are still intact. The figure with large eyes and two
fangs immediately above the lower worker in this figure is thought to be
either the rain god Tlaloc or the fire serpent which carried the sun on
its daily journey. The plumed serpent itself is on the right,
its head protruding from a necklace of petals, and the three-part item
to the left of each plumed serpent head is said to be the rattle at the
end of its tail. Conches, scallops and other sea shells appear
between the protruding carvings, together with water motifs. |
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 Here's
a close up view of the plumed serpent. Quetzalcoatl is usually
shown surrounded by 11 petals, which are also interpreted as feathers or
plumes.
A steep set of stairs
ascends the western side of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, with more figures
of the plumed serpent on either side. The temple is originally
thought to have had six tiers, but only four remain. A few
traces of color now exist, but it's believed that the entire temple would
once have been painted in bright red, white and green. |
Visit the Highlights
of the Yucatan or the Maya
city of Tikal in Guatemala.
|
