Teotihuacan Archaeological Zone

Teotihuacan rose in the Basin of Mexico beginning around 100 BCE and by 300-500 CE had grown into one of the largest cities in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated between 100,000 and 200,000 at its height. The identity of its founders remains debated among archaeologists, since the city predates the Aztec Empire by nearly a millennium and the name Teotihuacan, meaning 'the place where the gods were created,' was given centuries later by the Nahua-speaking Mexica who found the site already in ruins. The Avenue of the Dead runs roughly 2.4 km through the site's core, anchored by the Pyramid of the Sun, one of the largest pyramidal structures in the ancient world, and the Pyramid of the Moon, which faces a broad plaza used for public ceremonies. The Ciudadela complex houses the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, its facade studded with carved heads of Quetzalcoatl and the storm deity Tlaloc, and archaeologists have recovered mass sacrificial burials beneath it tied to the temple's dedication. Excavated residential compounds such as Tetitla and Tepantitla preserve polychrome murals depicting rain deities, processions, and mythological scenes that inform much of what is known about Teotihuacan cosmology. The city's grid-planned layout, apartment compounds, and monumental religious architecture reflect a highly organized urban society whose influence, evident in Teotihuacan-style artifacts found as far as the Maya lowlands, extended across Mesoamerica. Teotihuacan was deliberately burned and abandoned around 550 CE, likely amid internal unrest, and the ruins were later restored and consolidated by Mexican archaeologists through excavation campaigns beginning in the early 20th century; the site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and continues to undergo conservation work.