Teotihuacan is a, site in central Mexico that in ancient times was one of the largest cities in the world. Located about 40 km (25 mi) northeast of present-day Mexico City, Teotihuacán reached the peak of its prosperity and influence around ad 500 or ad 600. During this period, the city covered an area of 21 sq km (8 sq mi) and had at least 125,000 inhabitants; estimates of its population range as high as 200,000.
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Teotihuacán. Video hosted on Youtube. The city of Teotihuacan was founded around 200 bc, although the site may have been inhabited as early as 1000 bc. Teotihuacán developed into an important city-state in the 1st century ad. It had two great stone pyramids, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon, built between the 1st and 2nd centuries ad. With an original height around 75 m (246 ft) and a square base more than 213 m (700 ft) on each side, the Pyramid of the Sun was one of the largest structures ever built by Native Americans. Teotihuacan was organized around a central thoroughfare, known as the Avenue of the Dead, which was flanked by temples and other structures. In the center of the city stood the Ciudadela (the Citadel), a massive rectangular enclosure that contained a large plaza and served as the city’s administrative center. The Ciudadela also housed the large Feathered Serpent Pyramid (named for its stone carvings of legendary feathered serpents) along with 15 smaller pyramids. The buildings of Teotihuacán housed the religious leaders, nobles, merchants, and craftspeople, with neighborhoods determined by rank and occupation. Farmers, who provided food for the growing urban population, lived in surrounding villages.
Like the overlapping Olmec civilization, Teotihuacan was a source for many of the cultural elements that developed throughout Mesoamerica: architecture, sculpture, carvings, wall painting, and pottery; agricultural techniques, including irrigation; belief systems; glyph writing and number and calendar systems; and tools. Teotihuacános, as the people of the city are known, had close contacts with the Maya of the early Classic Period (about ad 300 to 900), especially at Tikal in Guatemala. It is not known what caused the decline of Teotihuacan civilization beginning around ad 650. Drought, crop failure, and invasion may have all played a part. Teotihuacán cultural achievements endured among other Mesoamerican peoples, however, such as the Toltec and Aztec, who rose to dominance in the same region, and the Zapotec and Mixtec, who flourished to the south of the Valley of Mexico. The ruins of Teotihuacán became known to the Aztec as the “Abode of the Gods.” Today, Teotihuacán is an important archaeological site and a popular tourist attraction.
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