Teotihuacan
Ideal: Ideal for archaeology, history, walking, and day trips from Mexico City.
In the 450s CE the city had more than 100,000 people and ranked among the world's largest, then was abandoned around 750 — who founded it remains unknown. Even the name Teotihuacan came later: Aztecs who stumbled on the ruins centuries afterward called it 'the place where the gods were created'. A two-kilometre axis links the monuments — the Avenue of the Dead, a name Aztecs gave after wrongly assuming roadside structures were tombs. The Pyramid of the Sun stands 65 metres high, and climbing the pyramids is now banned for preservation.
Quick facts
- Architectural style
- Talud-tablero
- Area
- 250 hectares
- Annual visitors
- 1.8 million
- Heritage status
- World Heritage Site
Facts from Wikidata, photos from Wikimedia Commons.
Why go?
- To see the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon up close
- To walk the Avenue of the Dead and sense the ancient city's scale
- To explore one of pre-Columbian America's greatest cities
Travel tip
Go early — the site is largely shadeless, so hat, plenty of water, and comfortable shoes are essential; weekends are very crowded.
