8. Teotihuacan: The Pre Aztec city so advanced it became known as the “Place Where the Gods were Created”
Fifty kilometers north of Mexico City is Teotihuacan, one of the enigmas of South America. Founded in the first century AD, 1000 years before the Aztec period, over the next seven centuries the city grew and developed into one of the largest cities in South America, covering an area of over eight square miles. As it developed, Teotihuacan became the largest city in the Western hemisphere and home to some of the largest and most artistically unique ancient indigenous structures in South America. Yet no one knows who built it– or why it was abandoned.
Teotihuacan was a city of pyramids. Its most famous monument, the Pyramid of the Sun is the third-largest pyramid in the world. This temple, in conjunction with the city’s other monumental complexes such as the Pyramids of the Moon and the Temple of Quetzalcoatl– otherwise known as the Temple of the Plumed Serpent were organized along the city’s main street, The Avenue of the Dead. All were geometrically precise and decorated in a style not found elsewhere in Mexico.
This impressive ceremonial area only encompassed 10% of the total city area. The rest was dedicated to palaces and other residential areas that housed between 25,000- 100,000 people. However, in 650AD, Teotihuacan was razed by fire. Its surviving inhabitants abandoned it utterly and disappeared into the mists of history. Its unique monuments remained to awe those who followed, earning the city its Aztec name which means, “Place Where the Gods were created.” Today, archaeologists are no closer to solving the mystery of who the people of Teotihuacan were or why they finally abandoned the city.