Approximately 50 kilometers north of Mexico City lies the ancient ruin of Teotihuacan, an enormous expanse of stone buildings including two pyramids one of which is the third largest ancient pyramid on the planet, the Pyramid of the Sun. It dominates the remains of the city along with a second pyramid, the Pyramid of the Moon. Teotihuacan is the site of Mesoamerica’s largest ancient city and was the capital of Mexico’s largest pre-Hispanic empire. The Pyramid of the Sun was originally plastered and colored bright red and other buildings were deep blue and adorned with fantastic frescoes with black obsidian and conch shell inlays that must have been fantastic sights for all who lived in this huge city.
The first settlements of Teotihuacan began in about 300 B.C. By AD 0 to 150 a huge city was laid out on a grid and the Pyramid of the Sun was constructed. The city expanded peaking in size between AD 250 and 600 when the Pyramid of the Moon was built. Social, environmental and economic reasons caused its decline and eventual collapse in the 8th century. So “phase-1” of the great metropolis encompasses 1,000 years! The ruin sat idle for about 400 more years until the Aztecs rediscovered it in the 12th century. They believed the site was created by an ancient race of giants whom they believed to be Gods. The Aztecs re-inhabited the site until the Spanish conquered them by 1524, five short years after their arrival on the sub-continent.