MEXICO

The citadel is an enormous, rectangular building complex at the south end, and on the east side of the Avenue of the Dead. It is organized around a sunken square courtyard, about 400 meters on a side, surrounded by two tiers of masonry terraces supporting two step temple platforms, 4 each on the north west and south sides for a total of 12 temples. The eastern half of the sunken courtyard is taken up by the magnificent Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl. This view is looking north from the sunken courtyard of the Citadel, to the Pyramid of the Sun, rising like a massive magical mountain, in the distance to the north.

The Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl is a large, temple platform, almost 100 meters square, that stands in the eastern half of the sunken courtyard of the Citadel. Built in several successive phases, the interior of the mound has been excavated to reveal the west facade of the original temple, from the period of Teotihuacan in 250 AD. There are 9 stepped platforms on the west face of the pyramid, constructed with the typical sloping talud base and horizontal tablero frieze, lined with rows of alternating stone mosaic masks of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent half-god, and Tlaloc, the god of rain, with his goggle eyes and protruding snout.

Teotihuacan was a center for very fine ceramic manufacturing, and the city exported it's wares throughout the highlands of Mexico and Central America. There were extensive trade routes and regional centers and contacts with cultures as far away as the south-western U.S. and the great centers of culture in the Yucatan and Guatemala, and on the west coast of South America. The ceramic mask was made as a faceplate for the burial of an important personage. It has oval holes for eyes, over-sized earplugs with large, round disks, and a flared mustache over the mouth. The face is decorated with burnt orange and yellow glazes.

The Palace of Quetzalpapalotl is one of many such palace structures in the center of the city. These were typically square or rectangular complexes, located on raised platforms and terraces, organized around interior courtyards and plazas. Thought to have been the royal residence of Teotihuacan, the Palace of Quetzalpapalotl, the quetzal butterfly, is located south-west of the Plaza of the Moon, on the west side of the Avenue of the Dead. It has a large, square patio, lined with columns decorated with bird and butterfly motifs.

This is a close-up view of one of the gigantic stone feathered serpent heads from the terraces on the west facade of the original Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl from about 250 AD. The figure of the half-god Quetzalcoatl, figured prominently in the cosmological hierarchy of Teotihuacan, as it did in most other Meso-American cultures. It combines the ground and the sky with the image of the bird and the snake, in the story of a stranger from afar, who has the potential to attain divinity through his travels and tribulations.

Those who stay at the site, can attend the laser sound and light shows that are conducted in the evenings, and get a chance to view the ancient structures in colored and sequenced lighting and with accompanying soundtrack and ceremonial chanting. This view shows the stepped terraces and stairways on the south side of the Pyramid of the Moon in blue lighting, and the platforms in the Plaza of the Moon lit in yellow.

This view is looking south from the upper terrace of the Pyramid of the Moon, and along the Avenue of the Dead, towards the Pyramid of the Sun, which towers over the center of the site, emulating the shapes of the mountains in the distance beyond. The Pyramid of the Sun is a huge earthen mound, 225 meters square and 142 meters high, that dates from about 100 AD. There are 248 steps leading up to the top of the pyramid on the west side, and the whole structure was originally covered with bright red plaster, which must have been radiant at sunset.

The sculpted stone sundisk was found in a subterranean grotto directly below the center of the Pyramid of the Sun, during excavations in 1971. It depicts a human skull with a chin piece, surrounded by the radiating disk of the sun, a powerful representation of the god of the sun, and of death, to whom the pyramid was dedicated. The sun stone bears strong resemblances to much later Aztec sculptures, such as the giant calendar stone.