The ancient city of Teotihuacan is located just 50 kilometers north-east of the center of Mexico city and is well worth at least one or two days of exploration.   There are many restored buildings to explore, as well as artwork and artifacts recovered from the site, as well as the two enormous structures for which the city is best known, the Pyramid of the Moon, shown here, and the even larger Pyramid of the Sun.   Unlike the pyramids of Egypt, the pyramids at Teotihuacan aren't build of solid stone, instead they consist of stone and brick rubble covered with layers of cut stone, however they're still an extraordinary achievement, especially since all this was done without the benefit of pack animals, metal tools or the wheel.

The Palace of Quetzalpapalotl is located a short distance to the south-west of the Pyramid of the Moon.   This is thought to be the place where the high priest lived, and is one of a number of former residences of the nobility which have been restored and made open to visitors.

The name Quetzalpapalotl is Nahuatl for the "Quetzal butterfly" and it was applied to this building because of carved images like this one which appear on the columns surrounding the courtyard shown above.   Some of these images are thought to represent the quetzal bird, which was revered by pre-European peoples living throughout central America.   Some of the images show a creature which is a combination of the quetzal and a butterfly, hence the name.

The black volcanic glass called obsidian forms the eyes of the birds; it seems rather odd that the pieces of stone used to make the pillars are cut into irregularly sized and shaped blocks, and also vary in texture and color from each other.   I'm not sure if some of the blocks are reconstructions, but even if they are there's still a lot of irregularity in the construction of the pillar.

These are the lintels and roof ornaments surrounding the courtyard.   There are many painted and carved designs of abstract geometric figures in this palace; like other ancient American peoples, the builders of Teotihuacan were extraordinarily skilled at observing and predicting astronomical events and accurately recording the passage of time.   This is one of the very few buildings in the entire city whose roof line is still intact.

In the last photo of the Pyramid of the Moon you can see a path which leads to the south-east of the pyramid, which takes you to the Palace of Tepantitla, which was also thought to be the residence of a priest.   There are an enormous number of murals scattered around the buildings at Teotihuacan; several particularly valuable ones were discovered in this palace in 1942, including this procession of priests in full ceremonial costume.

The most famous painting in this palace is called The Paradise of Tlaloc.   The god Tlaloc is shown several times in frescoes, and in the one which depicts his "paradise" many people are shown in the middle of a variety of acts - diving and swimming in a river with fish, talking to each other, eating, picking flowers and, near the top right-hand corner of this photograph, holding hands between their legs!   As you can see, there's an abundance of speech bubbles, as well as various butterflies and other insects.

The Pyramid of the Sun, with an estimated weight of three million tons, is much larger than the Pyramid of the Moon, and was also built earlier.   Each side is 222 meters long and it's over 70 meters high, making it the third largest pyramid in the world by volume, after the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt and the unrestored pyramid at the Mexican city of Cholula.   Unfortunately because of the building method a lot of reconstruction was needed to get it to its current state, and there's considerable uncertainty about its original appearance.

Just to the south of the Pyramid of the Sun is the main site museum, which is the primary repository for artifacts discovered here.

There's a sculpture garden outside the museum where stone items are displayed, like this water drain and end piece, looking for all the world like a gargoyle from one of the water drains on a medieval cathedral in Europe.

There's another museum with murals and other items on the far western side of the site near gate two, but unfortunately I didn't have time to visit.

There's a very large collection on display inside the modern looking site museum, including a huge model of the city as it would have been in its heyday, right in front of a gigantic glass wall looking out on the Pyramid of the Sun.

Teotihuacan was the center of a large trading empire which included nearby cities such as Cholula as well as much more distant population centers like Tikal in present-day Guatemala, so there are also displays of trade items found at Teotihuacan which originated from other sites.   There's even evidence that different ethnic groups might have had separate living areas within the city.

Central Mexico was a source of obsidian, highly prized here and elsewhere as a material for making sharp knives.   There are also tools such as mortars and pestels made from rock, as well as pottery items.

There are a couple of transplanted burial sites found here, showing how the bodies were laid out with some of their possessions.   There's also a large collection of pottery containers and figures depicting gods like Tlaloc as well as workers going about their trades, and nobles in their costumes.   Some of the figures are very imaginative, like the extraordinary article shown here.

One of several eagle images at this location, other animals include dogs, jaguars, birds and snails.

People are depicted performing ceremonies, and also secular acts like swimming with nets and collecting shell fish.

At the southern end of the Avenue of the Dead is the 400 meter square sunken complex which the Spaniards called The Citadel, mistaking its high walls and central courtyard for a fortification.   In fact Teotihuacan seems to have been a peaceful place until its fiery end came, and there are no clear depictions of warriors or battles amongst its many murals.   Rather, the citadel seems to have been a living area for many of the city's elite residents, and possibly a ceremonial area where most of the city's inhabitants could be gathered together.

Here's a close up view of the plumed serpent.   Quetzalcoatl is usually shown surrounded by 11 petals, which are also interpreted as feathers or plumes.

A steep set of stairs ascends the western side of the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, with more figures of the plumed serpent on either side.   The temple is originally thought to have had six tiers, but only four remain.   A few traces of color now exist, but it's believed that the entire temple would once have been painted in bright red, white and green.

In the 1980s several mass graves were discovered under the temple.   In all, 137 bodies were discovered, and it seems that the people were probably sacrificed when the temple was built, since their hands were tied behind their backs.

Graves have also been found under the Pyramid of the Moon, and some people believe that there's probably a royal tomb located somewhere under the pyramid.   The pyramid grave included various valuables, as well as the remains of eight hawks and two jaguars, which might have been buried alive.