Teotihuacan, is one of the most important and well preserved archaeological complexes in the Country. Its name means "the place where men are transformed into gods", which would reveal its religious essence and explain why it was one of the major cities in Central America, reaching an extension of over 20 square kilometres holding a population of about 200 thousand people.

Its beginnings go back to around 600 B.C. but its summit arrived between the years 200 A.D. and 500 A.D. Its social organization had the priests as the dominant class. Architectonically speaking, Teotihuacan is based on the use of vertical and inclined elements.

Neither the archaeological nor the historical research has been able to determine with accuracy the reasons why Teotihuacan was set on fire and abandoned after the year 650 A.D. In spite of that fact, it became an important religious centre to Toltecs and Aztecs. It is located some 50 kilometres to the Northeast of Mexico City. These archaeological remains are worth mentioning:

• La Piramide del Sol - The Pyramid of the Sun. This is one of the most representative structures of the architectonic complex. It stands 64 metres above the ground and is the third highest of the world. Its base has an area of 225 square metres and, according to the scholars; it took more than four million tons of materials to raise it.


To reach the top is necessary to overcome 248 stairs, although the effort is rewarded with an impressive sight of the Valley. When the sun beams of light reach its western side during the Summer solstice, a wonderful view appears to the eyes of the visitors.

Behind this Pyramid, assumedly built around the year 100 A.D., is the Tepantitla complex and its famous mural named el paraiso de Tlaloc or the paradise of Tlaloc that depicts the so called god in the act of creating rain from the sea.

• La Calzada a los Muertos - The Walkway of the Dead starts at the Pyramid of the Moon (de la Luna) and winds across the many constructions of Teotihuacan, dividing it in two parts from North to South. It is four kilometres long and 43 metres wide, and it was made between the years of 200 and 250 A.D.
  The Mexicas, in their belief that the monuments that framed the road were funerary tombs, baptized it with the name Miccaotli, which means "walkway of the dead".



• La Piramide de la Luna - The Pyramid of the Moon rises on a square over the northern side of the Calzada de los Muertos. This beautiful pyramid of 46 metres high is surrounded by a dozen lesser temples.



• Templo de Quetzalcoatl, this is one of the most important temples in this complex. On its façade abound the carved representations of the feathered snake, an iconography of the god Quetzalcoatl. There also are sculptures of Tlaloc, the god of rain. This Temple, located at the entrance to Teotihuacan, was supposedly built among the years of 150 and 200 A.D. for the celebration of a ritual ceremony related with Time. It was discovered in 1917.
  
  
• El Palacio de Quetzalpapalotl - Palace is believed to have been the dwelling of the priests. It stands beside a large patio framed by columns that show birds and butterflies in base relief.