Teotihuacan

Around 2400 years ago, the Valley of Teotihuacan was occupied by various rural communities with a population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. Toward 200 B.C., part of the population from the Southern Basin of Mexico migrated to the north of Lake Texcoco, reorganizing settlements and forming a new population center in the valley, the first planned urban settlement in Mesoamerica. The city was carefully laid out with streets and blocks organized around two great perpendicular roadways, the Avenue of the Dead and the East-West Avenue, and it had drainage and sewage systems in residential units, buildings, and public plazas. Its official architectural style was characterized by talud-tablero, or slope-panel construction. Temples and palaces along the Avenue of the Dead served as political-administrative and civic-religious areas, elite residential units stood nearby, and common people lived on the outskirts. At its peak between 450 and 650 A.D., the city covered about 23 square kilometers and had around 175,000 inhabitants. Population growth, economic development, and specialized labor fostered advances in the arts and sciences but also created major social differences. Religion was the principal element of government, and priests controlled not only the Valley of Teotihuacan but also neighboring valleys in the Basin of Mexico. Over nine centuries the city grew through remodeling and superimposed construction, with buildings from different stages remaining visible, until its fall around 700 to 750 A.D. After its abandonment, groups including the Toltecs and the Aztecs regarded it as a sacred city and reoccupied some areas. The ancient city's true name is unknown; the current name is in Nahuatl and was given by the Aztecs, who understood Teotihuacan as the place where men become gods.

State of Mexico · Mexico