The Pyramids of the Sun and Moon at Teotihuacán, Mexico, line the Avenue of the Dead.
The Aztec pyramids stand along
the Avenue of the Dead.

Towering and mysterious, the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon rise above silent Teotihuacán, an empty city that once bustled with as many as 200,000 people and stood at the center of Mexico's pre-Hispanic empire.

Erected by a virtually unknown culture in the first century B.C., the city sprawled over an area larger than imperial Rome. But by A.D. 750 it had been abruptly abandoned, perhaps because of disaster or drought.

Five hundred years later the Aztecs came upon Teotihuacán -- with its pyramids, temples, apartments, and ball courts -- and adopted it as a center of pilgrimage.

At roughly 210 feet high, the Pyramid of the Sun ranks as one of the largest pyramids in the world. (It is about half as tall as the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.) The builders raised the Pyramid of the Sun around A.D. 100, somehow transporting and erecting three million tons of stone, brick, and rubble without benefit of the wheel, beasts of burden, or metal tools.

In 1971, archaeologists found a previously unknown entryway some 320 feet long that leads to a cave directly beneath the apex of the pyramid. At one time the cave held a natural spring, and there are still piles of charcoal in the chamber -- perhaps indicating ceremonies involving water and fire. No one knows, although scientists enjoy speculating.

After climbing 248 steps to the top of the pyramid, you can survey the temple-lined Avenue of the Dead, a roadway about two-and-a-half miles long that ends with the Pyramid of the Moon rising to the north. Finished before A.D. 300, it appears to be as tall as the Pyramid of the Sun. However, it is only 150 feet tall, but built on higher ground. Twelve platforms once stood on the adjacent plaza, where religious dancing may have been performed. Again, no one knows. The mystery endures.

Here are links to dozens of other world-famous landmarks:

Abu Simbel, Egypt Eiffel Tower, France The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy Roman and Georgian Bath, England
The Alhambra, Spain Ellora Caves, India Machu Picchu, Peru St. Mark’s­ Basilica, Italy
Angkor Wat, Cambodia The Forbidden City, China Mont-St.-Michel, France St. Paul’s Cathedral, England
Arc de Triomphe, France The Golden Pavilion, Japan Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel, Italy
Borobudur, Indonesia The Great Buddha, Japan Palace of Versailles, France Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar
Chartres Cathedral, France The Great Wall of China, China The Pantheon, Italy Stonehenge, England
Christ the Redeemer Statue, Brazil Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain The Parthenon and the Acropolis, Greece Sydney Opera House, Australia
CN Tower, Canada Hagia Sophia, Turkey Petra, Jordan The Taj Mahal, India
The Colosseum, Italy Houses of Parliament, England Pompeii, Italy The Temple at Karnak, Egypt
The Dome of the Rock, Israel The Kaaba and Al-Haram Mosque, Saudi Arabia Potala Palace, China The Terra-cotta Army, China
Easter Island Statues, Chile Krak des Chevaliers, Syria The Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx, Egypt
Edinburgh Castle, Scotland The Kremlin and Red Square, Russia Pyramids of the Sun and Moon at Teotihuacán, Mexico



To learn more about other landmarks and vacation destinations, see:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jerry Camarillo Dunn Jr., has worked with the National Geographic Society for more than 20 years, starting as a staff editor, writer, and columnist at Traveler magazine, then writing travel guides. His latest work is National Geographic Traveler: San Francisco. Dunn’s Smithsonian Guide to Historic America: The Rocky Mountain States has sold more than 100,000 copies. His travel pieces appear in newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and The Boston Globe. Jerry Dunn's stories have won three Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers -- the highest honor in the field. He also wrote and hosted a pilot episode for a travel show produced by WGBH, Boston's public television station. ­