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Teotihuacan (teh-oh-tih-wah-KAN) is definitely one of
the must-see-attractions near Mexico City, and it is
the place where the huge Pirmides del Sol y de la Luna
[Pyramids of the Sun and of the Moon] are located.
Teotihuacan has remained a
mysterious place despite several interesting findings
in recent decades. Teotihuacan is less mysterious
today than 20 or 50 years ago, but even now, after a
century of professional archaeological excavations,
basic questions like the ethnicity or linguistic
affiliation of the people who once constructed the
magnificent ruins and lived, loved and laughed in the
first true metropolis in the western hemisphere are
still unresolved.
Already in Aztec times,
Teotihuacan had been mainly a ghost town for several
centuries and the enormous and monumental ruins gave
inspiration to many colourful and exiting legends.
Important parts of Nahua mythology came to be related
to the ruins. This was the place where the gods were
created and the gods later had created the first human
beings of this era. The name is Nahatl and means
“The Place of the Gods”, which is the designation
the Aztecs used for the ruins in the 16th century. We
do not know its original name. This ruin site, which
your Enkidu Personal Guide will bring closer to you
was constructed in a valley in a mountainous area,
about 2200 meters above sea level and it is surrounded
by several majestic high volcanic erections.
Lunch
After an exploration of the
ruins, and an introduction to their history and
significance, the guide will take you to the small
town San Juan Teotihuacan just outside the ruins,
where it will be time for lunch before you continue to
Acolman. The little town has an interesting early
colonial church. If time permits, a visit here as well
as in a local pulqueria is highly recommended.
Acolman
At the time of the Spanish
conquest, Acolman was one of the most important towns
of the Acolhua people, and the seat of a local noble
house. After the forced Christianisation, the
Augustinians constructed a mission here and the
monastery and several churches were build. Local
Indian artists were requested to decorate the
ecclesiastical buildings and court yards resulting in
a number of quite interesting art works reflecting the
interaction between indigenous and Christian-European
forms of artistic expression.
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