Theocihuacan is an ancient sacred site located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan was one of the largest urban centers in the ancient
world. No one knows who built it. The city flourished between 2,100
years ago, when construction began, and about 1,400 years ago, when it
went into a period of decline, including a fire that caused great
damage. However, even with the decline, the city was never truly “lost” —
the Aztecs made regular pilgrimages to the site in later periods. Theotihuacan, was given to it by the Aztec and means “the place where the gods were created" reflecting that Aztec belief that the Gods created the world here.
Constructed around 300 AD, the holy city is characterized by the vast size of its monuments, carefully laid out on geometric and symbolic principles. Its most monumental structures are the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, the Pyramid of the Sun (the third-largest pyramid in the world) and the Pyramid of the Moon. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, but its major monuments were sacked and systematically burned around 550 AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more.
The city was organized using a grid plan, many people living in what scholars refer to as “apartment compounds,” containing multiple families. An archaeological mapping project identified about 2,200 of these structures within the city, with excavations showing that some compounds were richer than others, containing more stone and lime plaster in their construction.
Theocihuacan, ancient city of pyramid,Mexico
