Day 5 Pyramids of Teotihuacán north of Mexico City

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Today was a 50 km day trip to the ruins of another ancient civilization outside the city known as Teotihuacan. Caotic traffic & smog is now evident outside of the old town. Its not helped by a practice seen along the way were thousands of homes reaching into the foothills of a once national park but illegally built by immigrants looking for work. Now these homes can be legally owned once they have been occupied for 50 years while the land still belongs to the government.

The Teotihuacan’s were one of the earliest of many ancient civilizations that have risen & fallen over eons of Mexican history. These civilizations also include the Olmecs, Mayans, Toltecs, Aztecs among many other regional settlements. The peak of this civilization was thought to be between 200 BC & 100 AD before decline and abandonment over the next few centuries.

The legacy of this civilization is one of the most impressive archaeological sites of the country albeit with a fair degree of restoration with both original and new stones and gives a vivid insight of the scale of construction of the city and the number of people it supported. Mexicans today revere the site as the “Place of the Gods” & believe the sun & moon were created there. Unlike the Mayans however, the Teotihuacan’s did not develop a written language so their history has remained more of a mystery.

Able to climb both Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon with views overlooking the ring of volcanoes that surround Mexico City. The path between the two pyramids is the Avenue of the Dead & is lined on both sides with tomb like structures. A section of the site was the living quarters with advanced solutions for bath and toilet requirements & channels for running water.

On the return trip we stopped at the Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a pilgrimage place for millions of Mexicans. 7 churches are grouped in this area including the original shrine that is sinking (but still used & magnificent) & a new shrine built to replace it. During the week in December leading up to the 1531 annerversary of the virgin's vision to a local native 11 million people will visit the shrine area.

A huge but very memorable day.

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Photos

Temple of the Sun
65 mtrs high & 246 steps

Comments

[Ruth]

Looking good!
Did you go for a run up those few pidly stairs?