The city of Teotihuacan was characterized by large and imposing buildings,
which included, apart from the complexes of houses, temples, large squares,
stadiums, and palaces of the rulers, nobles, and priests. The city's
urban-ceremonial space is considered one of the most impressive achievements
of the pre-Columbian New World. The size and quality of the monuments, the
originality of the residential architecture, and the miraculous iconography in
the colored murals of the buildings or the vases with the paintings of
butterflies, eagles, coyotes with feathers and jaguars, suggest beyond any
doubt a high-level civilization, whose cultural influences were spread and
transplanted into all the Mesoamerican populations.
The main monuments of the city of Teotihuacan are connected to each other by a
central road of 45 meters wide and a length of 2 kilometers, called "Avenue of
the Dead " (Avenida de Los Muertos), because it is believed to have
been paved with tombs.
East is the imposing "Pyramid of the Sun " (Piramide del Sol), the
third-largest pyramid in the world. It has a volume of 1 million cubic meters.
It is a gradual pyramid, with a base dimension of 219.4 x 231.6 meters and a
height of 65 meters. At the top of the pyramid, there was a huge pedestal,
where human sacrifices were made.
At the north end of the city, the Boulevard of the dead ends in the "Pyramid
of the Moon " (Piramide de la Luna), surrounded laterally by
platforms-ramps and lower pyramids.
In the southern part is the "Temple of Cetzalkokal " (Quetzalcoatl), dedicated
to God in the form of a winged serpent, which gives life and fertility.
Sculpture representation of the God Ketzalkokal and twelve Heads of winged
snakes adorn the two sides of the uphill scale of the temple.
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North entrance.
Entering the northern end of the Teotihuacan archaeological site.
- This entrance is called Puerta 3 (Door number 3).
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Palace of Quetzalpapálotl ahead.
Walking towards the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl (Spanish:
Palacio de Quetzalpapálotl).
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Queue for the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl.
Waiting in line to enter the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl.
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Main entrance to the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl.
The Quetzalpapálotl complex are ruins located in Teotihuacán. The
complex is best known for the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl (Spanish:
Palacio de Quetzalpapálotl) and the stone reliefs in its
courtyard. Adjacent structures house surviving murals. The main entrance
faces the Avenue of the Dead and is southwest of the Pyramid of the
Moon.
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Entering the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl.
The existing structures were built around 450 to 500 AD. These buildings
were built over earlier structures from around 250 to 300 AD.
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Courtyard of the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl.
The central courtyard of the palace is surrounded by porticos that frame
the entrances to the interior chambers of the palace. The stone columns
are profusely carved with representations of butterflies and quetzal
feathers, hence the name of the palace. During the time this building
was in operation, the reliefs on the columns were polychrome.
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Due to the location of the palace and the quality of its art, it is
thought the complex was home to a high ranking priest or other
dignitary. The complex may have also been used for ceremonial
purposes.
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Murals.
In the Palace of the Jaguars there are murals depicting plumed felines
holding conch shells and images of a goggled deity (this deity has been
associated with the rain god Tlaloc of the much later Aztecs).
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In the Palace of the Jaguars there are murals showing feathered
felines wearing quetzal plumes and images of a deity (this deity has
been associated with the later Aztec rain god Tlaloc).
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In front of the feathered felines we can find representations of sea
snails and human hearts.
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Feathers and butterflies.
The name Quetzalpapálotl comes from the reliefs of mythological birds on
the courtyard pillars and is from Nahuatl quetzalli, precious
feather, and pāpālōtl, butterfly.
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Subterranean.
In the subterranean Temple of the Feathered Shells, buried under the
palace, there are representations of a green bird associated with water
and life.
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Towards Plaza of the Moon.
Walking from the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl to the Plaza of The Moon (Plaza de la Luna).
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Plaza of the Moon.
Opposite the Great Goddess's altar is the Plaza of the Moon. The Plaza
contains a central altar and an original construction with internal
divisions, consisting of four rectangular and diagonal bodies that
formed what is known as the "Teotihuacan Cross."
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Pyramid of the Moon.
The Pyramid of the Moon is the second-largest pyramid in Mesoamerica,
after the Pyramid of the Sun. It is found in the northwestern part of
the ancient city of Teotihuacan and mimics the contours of the mountain
Cerro Gordo, just north of the site. Cerro Gordo may have been called
Tenan, which in Nahuatl, means "mother or protective stone".
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Pyramid of the Moon.
The pyramid is shaped like many of the other pyramids of Mesoamerica.
The outer layer of the pyramid, which is currently visible features a
talud-tablero shape. It has 7 layers of buildings built on top of each
other. It is 43 meters tall. Its base is 147 meters in the West to East
direction by about 130 meters in the North to South direction.
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Given the name and contents of the pyramid, it is hypothesized that
there the symbolism of the moon may have been associated with water,
the rainy season, femininity, fertility, and even earth.
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Pyramid of the Moon.
This pyramid has 7 different layers of buildings which were constructed
on top of each other in order to update the building's religious power
over time..
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Building 1 is the oldest monument in Teotihuacan, from approximately
100 CE. The structure was a square pyramidal platform with talud side
facades that were about 23.5 meters long.
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Building 2 was a minor enlargement that covered the entire previous
structure, while correcting its orientation, which was slightly
unaligned from the true east–west axis of the Pyramid of the Moon
Complex. Building 2 was also in talud style whose east–west walls were
about 29.3 meters long.
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Building 3 covered the construction before it, but didn't expand much.
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Building 4: was a substantial enlargement which rendered the
building's east–west width is 89.2 meters and its north–south length
is 88.9 meters. This building was completed in approximately 250 CE.
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Building 5 was somewhat expanded, the architectural style of the
building was the main shift. The east–west size didn't change, but the
north–south wall grew to 104 meters. The style used was talud-tablero
on both the main body and an additional adosada platform. This design
still used the pyramid as a stage for ritual, rather than a house for
a temple.
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Building 6 grew to be east–west 144 meters while north–south remained
the same. This building was constructed to contain Burials 5 and 4 in
approximately 350 CE.
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Building 7 is the final structure, which is still visible today, but
was built in about 400 CE. A distinct shift in architectural style
between the first three buildings may be indicative of an ideological
shift.
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Pyramid of the Moon.
This pyramid had several religious functions. The main function of the
pyramid was public ritual sacrifice.
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Archaeologists have found a great number of sacrificed remains in the
foundations of the pyramid.
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Among the sacrificial victims were felines, birds of prey, snakes,
humans, and more.
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These sacrifices can be carefully cataloged and examined when looking
at the different burials within the different layers of buildings.
Thus far, archaeologists have found a total of 5 rectangular burial
offering complexes within the 7 layers of the pyramid.
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Sacrificial and inanimate offerings were carefully selected to
represent large ideas of Teotihuacan cosmology (such as authority,
militarism, human and animal sacrifice, femininity) rather than the
worship of a single ruler or deity.
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Towards the Avenue of the Dead.
Leaving from the Plaza of the Moon towards the Avenue of the Dead.
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Avenue of the Dead.
Walking down the Avenue of the Dead towards the southwest.
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The main monuments of the city of Teotihuacan are connected to each
other by a central road of 45 meters wide and a length of 2
kilometers, called "Avenue of the Dead " (Avenida de Los Muertos), because it is believed to have been paved with tombs.
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Avenue of the Dead.
Platforms along the Avenue of the Dead show the talud-tablero
architectural style.
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Along the Avenue are many smaller talud-tablero platforms. The Aztecs
believed they were tombs, inspiring the name of the avenue.
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Scholars have now established that these were ceremonial platforms
that were topped with temples.
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Towards the Puma Mural.
Walking down the Avenue of the Dead towards the Puma Mural.
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Puma Mural.
Puma mural in the Avenue of the Dead. This scene shows the
representation of a large feline in profile, with an open snout and legs
with large claws. Due to its coloration, the absence of spots on its
skin and the shape of its tail, among other features, it is believed to
be a puma.
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This mural was discovered during archaeological explorations in 1963.
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It is part of a set of platforms and temples that make up an
architectural unit known as the Puma Mural Group.
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Puma Mural.
It is painted on a background of oblique bands, in colors that alternate
in red, white and green and that symbolize an aquatic environment.
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The board molding is decorated with green circles that represent
chalchihuites or semi-precious stones that represent the
divine.
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Pyramid of the Sun.
Walking along the avenue of the dead towards the Pyramid of the Sun.
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The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest building in Teotihuacan, and one
of the largest in Mesoamerica. It is believed to have been constructed
about 200 AD.
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Found along the Avenue of the Dead, in between the Pyramid of the Moon
and the Ciudadela, and in the shadow of the mountain Cerro Gordo, the
pyramid is part of a large complex in the heart of the city.
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See more at
Pyramid of the Sun - Wikipedia.
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Going up towards the pyramid of the sun.
The name Pyramid of the Sun comes from the Aztecs, who visited the city
of Teotihuacan centuries after it was abandoned; the name given to the
pyramid by the Teotihuacanos is unknown.
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Pyramid of the Sun.
The Pyramid of the Sun was constructed in two phases.
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The first construction stage, around 200 CE, brought the pyramid to
nearly the size it is today. The second round of construction resulted
in its completed size of 225 meters (738 feet) across and 75 meters
(246 feet) high, making it the third-largest pyramid in the world,
though still just over half the height of the Great Pyramid of Giza
(146 metres).
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The second phase also saw the construction of an altar atop of the
pyramid which has not survived into modern times.
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Pyramid of the Sun.
Over the structure, the ancient Teotihuacanos finished their pyramid
with lime plaster imported from surrounding areas, on which they painted
brilliantly colored murals. While the pyramid has endured for centuries,
the paint and plaster have not and are no longer visible.
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Jaguar heads and paws, stars, and snake rattles are among the few
images associated with the pyramids.
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View from the Pyramid of the Sun towards the Pyramid of the Moon.
Commentary.
- In the distance you can see the Cerro Gordo mountain.
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Pyramid of the Sun.
It is thought that the pyramid venerated a deity within Teotihuacan
society. However, little evidence exists to support this hypothesis.
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The destruction of the temple on top of the pyramid, by both
deliberate and natural forces prior to the archaeological study of the
site, has so far prevented identification of the pyramid with any
particular deity..
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Pyramid of the Sun.
The pyramid was built on a carefully selected spot, from where it was
possible to align it both to the prominent Cerro Gordo to the north and,
in perpendicular directions, to sunrises and sunsets on specific dates,
recorded by a number of architectural orientations in Mesoamerica.
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The whole central part of the urban grid of Teotihuacan, including the
Avenue of the Dead, reproduces the orientation of the Pyramid of the
Sun, while the southern part exhibits a slightly different
orientation, dictated by the Citadel.
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Pyramid of the Sun.
The pyramid was built over a man-made tunnel leading to a "cave" located
six metres down beneath the centre of the structure.
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Originally this was believed to be a naturally formed lava tube and
interpreted as possibly the place of Chicomoztoc, the place of human
origin according to Nahua legends.
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More recent excavations have suggested that the space is man-made and
could have served as a royal tomb.
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Recently scientists have used muon detectors to try to find other
chambers within the interior of the pyramid, but substantial looting
has prevented the discovery of a function for the chambers in
Teotihuacan society.
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Pyramid of the Sun.
Only a few caches of artifacts have been found in and around the
pyramid. Obsidian arrowheads and human figurines have been discovered
inside the pyramid and similar objects have been found at the nearby
Pyramid of the Moon and Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent in the Citadel.
- These objects may have represented sacrificial victims.
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A unique historical artifact discovered near the foot of the pyramid
at the end of the nineteenth century was the Teotihuacan Ocelot, which
is now in the British Museum's collection. See more at
Teotihuacan Ocelot - Wikipedia.
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In addition, burial sites of children have been found in excavations
at the corners of the pyramid. It is believed that these burials were
part of a sacrificial ritual dedicating the building of the pyramid.
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Stone blocks belonging to the decoration.
In the late 17th century Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora (1645–1700) made
some excavations around the Pyramid of the Sun. Minor archeological
excavations were conducted in the 19th century.
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In 1905 Mexican archeologist and government official, in the regime of
Porfirio Díaz, Leopoldo Batres led a major project of excavation and
restoration.
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The Pyramid of the Sun was restored to celebrate the centennial of the
Mexican War of Independence in 1910.
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Stone blocks belonging to the decoration.
During the installation of a "sound and light" show in 1971, workers
discovered the entrance to a tunnel and cave system underneath the
Pyramid of the Sun.
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Although scholars long thought this to be a natural cave, more recent
examinations have established the tunnel was entirely manmade.
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The interior of the Pyramid of the Sun has never been fully excavated.
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Leaving the Pyramid of the Sun and the site of Teotihuacan.
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See also
Sources
Itinerary
