Teotihuacán, a great city in the ancient world

Teotihuacán is an example of a remarkable pre-hispanic city in the ancient world that reached an important urban development reaching a population of more than 100 thousand inhabitants in its maximum splendor.

The City of Teotihuacán is considered the first most important urban city in Mesoamerica. Its beginnings date around 100 BC until the seventh and eighth centuries AD. In the moments of its maximum splendor the city reached a population greater than 100 thousand inhabitants placing it in one of the first six largest cities in the world during its period.

There are testimonies of the great influence that this society had throughout Mesoamerica in the commercial, religious, political, cultural and economic aspects. Evidence of this culture has been found in southern Mexico, in several areas of the state of Veracruz and in the Maya region extending to Guatemala.

The city and archaeological zone of Teotihuacán is located in what is now the municipality of San Juan Teotihuacán in the State of Mexico, northwest of Mexico City. The site occupies an area of ​​83 square kilometers and is the most visited archaeological zone in Mexico. Because of its greatness and importance Teotihuacán was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987.

The history of its origins and those who founded it is still an uncertain mystery

Teotihuacán was the largest urban center in Mesoamerica 1000 years before the Aztecs

At the time of the Aztecs, the city of Teotihuacán was already in ruins, the Aztecs, upon finding the ruins of the city, recognized its greatness and adopted many aspects of its culture. Being they who gave the name of Teotihuacán “Place where men become gods“.

Although all its buildings in Teotihuacán are impressive among the most outstanding are the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon, the Calzada de los Muertos, the Citadel and Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl and the Temple of Quetzalpapalotl.

The Pyramid of the Sun is the most significant building because it is the third largest in the world after the pyramid of Cholula  in Mexico and the pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The Pyramid of the Moon is smaller than the sun but built at the same height. The Calzada de los Muertos stretches two kilometers through the city, finding temples, houses and palaces along it. The Ciudadela is a square where the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl is surrounded by thirteen secondary temples. The Temple of Quetzalpapalotl was built as a home for the high society in particular priests,

Thanks to its peculiar architectural style known as the board-talus, the influence of this culture has been identified in other archaeological sites.

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