Culture:
Teotihuacan was one of the most important cultural centers of the world in its heyday (ca 350 AD), certainly extending its artistic and architectural styles throughout Mesoamerica.
Location:
About fifty kilometers northeast of Mexico City
Dates Occupied:
150 B.C. through 650/750 AD
Architecture to Visit:
Pyramid of the Sun, Pyramid of the Moon, Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Avenue of the Dead, Cuidadela
Museum/Gift Shop:
There is a small museum located at the site which has a display of ceremonial and domestic artifacts from the excavations, such as ceramic pots, obsidian artifacts and other objects.
Recommended Reading:
Several excellent websites provide a lot of the background you'll want before you go to visit the ruins of the city of the gods. See the side bar for my recommendations.
Excavators and Excavations:
Excavations have been conducted at Teotihuacan for over a century. Rene Millon, George Cowgill, and Michael Spence are just a few of the many archaeologists who have studied Teotihuacan. Most recently, Saburo Sugiyama of the Arizona State University conducted excavations at the Pyramid of the Moon in 1998.
Why You Should Go:
Teotihuacan, the "place where the gods were created" is one of the most important archaeological sites in Mexico, with a population of than 100,000 people in 350 AD, making it the sixth largest city in the world at the time. Although only about 3 percent of the site has been fully excavated, you can walk the 1.5 kilometers of the Avenue of the Dead, and visit the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, and the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent (also called the Pyramid of Quetzelcoatl or Quetzel Butterfly).
Teotihuacan was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.
Teotihuacan was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.
