The city-state of Teotihucan is located about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City. At its peak around 350 AD, Teotihuacan was a vibrant metropolis of more than 200,000 inhabitants, making it one of the largest cities in the world at the time. (The population of Paris was only 750,000 at that time).
 The Pyramid of the Sun and Aveue of the Dead from the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacan View larger image |
Many archaeologists believe that the population of Teotihuacan grew rapidly following the discovery of a four-chambered lava-tube cave. Caves played a large role throughout Mesoamerican culture, and this unique four-lobed cave was thought to represent the four previous worlds, and therefore the place of man's emergence from the underworld into the current fifth world, as was the belief throughout Mesoamerica until the Spanish conquest. As a focal point of ritual activity, it also became a center for commerce and culture. Teotihuacan's largest structure, the Pyramid of the Sun, was built directly over the cave in the second century A.D.
Teotihuacán was the economic, political, and spiritual center of Mesoamerica for nearly one thousand years, leading up to its sudden demise around 700AD. Archaeologists have found indications that a massive fire decimated the entire city around 750 AD, with some contending that the fire was caused by an invading people. By the time the Spanish arrived in 1531, very little was known about the city or its builders. Regardless of the reason for the decline, Teotihuacan retained its mystical value through the period of the Aztecs, who believed it was built by a race of giants, and even today the word Teotihuacan means “Place of the Gods” in Aztec Nahuatl.
Most of the monuments at Teotihuacan retain the names translated from Nahuatl, as archaeologists have just begun deciphering the clues left by the original inhabitants. The entire site is divided on a North / South axis by the Street of the Dead. The Pyramid of the Moon sits at the north point of the Street of the Dead. At the base of the Pyramid of the Moon lie two palaces, the Palace of the Quetzal Butterfly and the Palace of the Plumed Conches. Both are named for well preserved murals found inside. Just south of these palaces, but on the west side of the Avenue of the Dead is a spectacular Jaguar mural.
The Pyramid of the Sun, which is larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza, lies somewhat further south, on the east side of the Avenue of the Dead. Further south still on the west side of the Avenue of the Dead is an area determined to be the main market complex at Teotihuacan, and directly opposite on the east side is the complex of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcoatl.