Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan was founded during Mesoamerica’s upper pre-classic period, which spanned 600 to 150 BC.  It began as a small town about 2000 years ago until Xitle volcano erupted in the southern basin of Mexico and devastated its competitor, Cuicuilco.

Teotihuacan grew to dominate Mexico by AD 100 and was a carefully planned city. It was built in several districts, radiating southward from the Pyramid of the moon. Two rows of buildings extend south of the Moon Plaza.

Teotihuacan City

At its height in AD 600, Teotihuacan included avenues, armlets, plazas, temples, palaces, apartment compounds, a grid system of streets, slums, waterways, reservoirs and drainage systems.

Religion was an integral, even dominating, aspect of life in ancient Teotihuacan, A broad street that was name the Avenue of the Dead ran through the center of town and connected the major buildings.

The city thrived economically politically and religiously for some five centuries and impacted societies all the way from Chaco in the north in New Mexico to the Maya cities of Tikal in Guatemala and Copan in Honduras in the far south.
Teotihuacan