Long before the arrival of the Aztecs, the ancient empire of Teotihuacán reigned as the largest city in the Americas; some experts estimate the population reached up to 200,000 inhabitants at its zenith. Built between the 1st and 7th centuries AD, Teotitihuacán in Nahuátl means “the place of gods,” named so by Aztecs who arrived at the abandoned site in the late 1300s or early 1400s. Despite ongoing research, the origins and collapse of this once great civilization remain a mystery. Given its historical significance as one of the most powerful cultural centers in Mesoamerica, Teotihuacán was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

The Pyramids

As you stroll along the broad 2-kilometer-long Avenue of the Dead, you can’t miss Teotihuacán’s two most imposing structures: the Pyramid of the Moon, a 43-meter-high (141 feet) edifice backed by the extinct Cerro Gordo volcano, and the Pyramid of the Sun, which rises 65 meters (213 feet) above a vast city that once covered 20 square kilometers (nearly 8 square miles). Surrounding the imposing structures are scores of residential compounds, plazas and temples, perhaps none more impressive than The Temple of Quezalcóatl.

The Feathered Serpent