Teotihuacan , MEXICO
Airing Date: May 8th, 2006
Just north of Mexico City in a mountain-ringed offshoot of the Valle de Mexico is the site of the huge Piramides del Sol y de la Luna - or The Pyramids of the Sun and Moon Teotihuacan was Mexico's biggest ancient city and the capital of what was probably Mexico's largest Hispanic empire.
In its day it was the sixth largest city in the world with most of its city plastered and painted red. The population estimates of Teotihuacan in its glory days generally range between 75,000 to 200,000. Those figures would make it one of the world's largest cities of its time. In its' decline (from around 200 BC to 350 AD), Teotihuacan slowly deteriorated physically and in spirit over the next several centuries, ending in abandonment around the 7th century. To the Aztecs, Teotihuacn was a holy place, where the sun, moon and universe were created. It was they who gave Teotihuacn its name, meaning 'The City of the Gods', or 'Where Men Become Gods'.
The plazas, avenues, and great pyramids of the city of Teotihuacan were laid out as a symbolic sacred landscape of artificial foothills and mountains. The complex of approximately 600 pyramids of various sizes is dominated by the great Pyramid of the Sun which, it was discovered in 1971, was built over a natural cave with four chambers. Meso-american belief saw caves as gateways to the spiritual world (called Xibalba by the Maya). The cave contained remains of offerings and may have been a focus for shamanistic rituals from a much earlier period. There can be no doubt that the Pyramid of the Sun was deliberately built over the sacred cave.
Fifteen hundred years ago, Teotihuacan was already known the length and breadth of Mesoamerica. Every traveler to the Valley of Mexico would take time to visit the great city, if only to admire its brightly red painted public buildings and stroll down the wide and imposing Street of the Dead that traversed the city's center. Teotihuacan was the largest human settlement in the Americas, with a population of at least 100,000 people. The Mesoamerican world shopped at Teotihuacan, traded with its merchants, and worshipped at its temples. Thousands of scattered villages in the Mexican highlands relied on its markets and specialist manufactures.
At certain times of the year, the entire countryside would flock to Teotihuacan's plazas to participate in the annual public ceremonies that ensured the future prosperity of the great city and the people of the Valley. Yet, within a few short centuries, the city had vanished forever. Only a few crumbling pyramids and temples remained as testaments to its former glory.
Further Information
15 day tour from $805 a person. Plus local payment of $280.
Includes accommodation, transport & guide.
Intrepid Travel
1300 360 887
Website: www.intrepidtravel.com
United Airlines to Mexico from $2598 ex east coast. Prices include surcharges, fees & taxes, subject to fluctuation. Conditions apply.
Intrepid Travel
1300 360 887
Website: www.intrepidtravel.com
Prices correct at 8/5/06
