Teotihuacan

Predating the Aztec Empire by a thousand years, the ancient Mesoamerican city of Teotihuacan is home to a number of architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids. The city is all the more fascinating due to the fact that nobody knows who built it – all the names of the roads and structures were given to it by the Aztecs long after it fell.

Named Teotihuacan, ‘the place where the gods were created’, by the Aztecs, this UNESCO World Heritage Site was built between the 1^st and 7^th centuries and was once the largest city in the Americas. Located just 50 kilometres from Mexico City, it covers about eight square miles. The complex is bisected by the ‘Avenue of the Dead’ - a road lined with what are believed to be residential compounds decorated with vibrant, well-preserved murals – which runs between the impressive Pyramid of the Sun (at 66 metres tall it is the world’s third largest pyramid) and the Pyramid of the Moon. The Temple of Quetzalcoatl is also a must-see, with its ornate carvings of serpent deities.

One of Mexico’s most extraordinary and most impressive sights, Teotihuacan is still an important pilgrimage site today as indigenous communities come here yearly to celebrate the vernal equinox.