Teōtīhuacān

Teotihuacan was one of the greatest cities of ancient Mesoamerica, laid out in a valley northeast of the Basin of Mexico. Its Avenue of the Dead runs between monumental complexes dominated by the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon. The Temple of the Feathered Serpent and richly painted palaces testify to the skill of its builders and artists. At its height the city exerted cultural influence across central Mexico and as far as the Maya lands.

The great city declined and was largely abandoned in the seventh century, long before the rise of the Mexica. Its immense ruins nevertheless remained sacred. Later Nahua peoples called it Teotihuacan, the place where the gods were created, and associated it with the birth of the sun. Sixteenth-century accounts describe sacrifices performed there under Moctezuma, showing that the ancient monuments still held religious power in the age of Tenochtitlan.

The later city of Ojo de Agua lies nearby.