Photos of the Ancient City Teotihuacan and Pyramids in Mexico

Elizabeth Weintraub at Teotihuacán pyramids in Mexico in February 2017.

No trip to Mexico City is complete with a visit to one of the most revered ancient ruins in the world, the city of Teotichuacan and its pyramids in Mexico. Depending on traffic, and the traffic is often unbearably bad in Mexico City, it’s about an hour drive. Many cultures lived in this city, the Zapotec, Mixtec and Maya, and you can see evidence of each. The Aztecs are credited with the name Teotichuacán. Yup, this was a place we needed to visit during our trip to Mexico earlier this month.

The city was established around 100 BC and was the largest city in pre-Columbian Americas. It was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1987. Two of its largest temples, where human and animal sacrifices were made, are the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Sun. Just getting up the stairs in the center of the valley was work. It’s not just the altitude that will get you but also the number of steps.

There was no way after climbing the Pyramid of the Moon that I was up for another adventure. One pyramid climbing was enough. I knew how much my legs would ache the next day when we went to see the butterflies in Mexico, but I did not count on double pain from riding a horse straight up two miles and back down. It’s a bear getting old and cranky, but you know what, the pain was worth it. Besides it’s my own fault. If I got on the elliptical more often, the aching calves and thighs would not have happened.

At one point, my husband, trying to be helpful, sort of shoved me up the stairs and caused me to jam my toe into the pyramid riser and scrape off my nail polish. I should have insisted he put me on of his top of his shoulders and carried to me to the top, but that would have been as likely as being served a sparkling glass of champagne by fairies at the end of my trek.

There are a lot of theories as to what happened to Teotichuacan and the pyramids in Mexico, why they fell into ruin. Our guide says the Zapotec cut down all the trees to use in building structures, roofs and furniture, and without trees, it altered life and species as we know it, and eventually the place ran out of water, which caused everybody to flee. Regardless of the reason, these pyramids in Mexico are only about 5% excavated.

Below are more photographs:

Jaguar fresco at Teotihuacán ruins at the pyramids in Mexico

Pyramid of the Moon in the background at Teotihuacán

View from the top of Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacán

Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán