Teotihuacan was possibly the most influential seat of political, religious and cultural power in Central America

We were excited!! We were on our way to Teotihuacan!!

This time we got lost a few times, the road signs in Mexico are not too good and of course few people understand English. We travelled through back streets, past open fields, through little towns, poor communities and late that night arrived at our hotel, the Club Med. We managed to book the very last room!! From this hotel you can walk to the famous Pyramids. Our room was clean with white sheets, a wonderful hot shower and a good hard bed to sleep on. What more can a weary traveller ask for!

No one knows who built or inhabited Teotihuacan Mexico, a monumental city of Pyramids, palaces and temples. It is thought to have been settled around 100 B C and to have had more than 100 000 residents by A D 500. For the first six centuries A D it was possibly the most influential seat of political, religious and cultural power in Central America. The Aztecs, who have arrived later, believed that the cosmos was created here. This ancient place covers more than 8 sq miles and in its time was larger than contemporary Rome, making it then the biggest city in the world. By 700, Teotihuacan was mysteriously abandoned. Some scholars believe it may have come to a sudden and violent end, possibly through arson.

I was in awe!! I’ve never seen anything like this!! We climbed the stairs – hundreds of them; we walked around and around - we stepped away and looked at it again. We walked down the famous Avenue of the Dead (where the Indians were offered to their gods) and stood around the sacred altar of stone, where they were offered to the gods many many years ago. How lonely and scared the hopeless prisoners must have felt!

At the end of this Avenue of the Dead, is the Pyramid of the Moon ('Pyramide de la Luna,' where the Aztec gods were created 2000 years ago). This pyramid is a bit smaller and more beautiful to me. We walked up the steps, sat down and watched over the valley. What peace and calm there was now! Beautiful and quiet. More than 2000 years ago, when the Aztecs built this, it must have been an awesome sight!!

Teotihuacan Culture

Religion occupied a position of prime importance, and the gods worshiped were associated with water, the earth and fertility.

At its peak in the 6th century AD, over 150 000 people lived in this great city of 24 sq km, many of them involved in mining obsidian. Then, sometime in the 7th century it declined, was plundered and finally abandoned. However, the later Toltecs and Aztecs still revered the sacred site. The Aztecs named it Teotihuacan, which means ‘the place where the gods were born’ (the city’s original name is not known) and thought that the gods created the universe from here.

Prime buildings include the Piramide del Sol, the world’s third largest pyramid at 70 m (230 feet) high, with a 248-step access to the spectacular views at the top.

Archaelogists continue excavating the city (much of which is still undiscovered) and finding artefacts and human remains which increasingly piece together a picture of this once omnipotent city.

Teotihuacan probably ruled over much of the southern part of Mexico, some of Guatemala and even certain areas of Honduras. Although it was burned and looted, then abandoned, many of its practices and much of its influence continued in the centuries that followed.

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