teotihuacán, valley of mexico

After having reached its peak of a quarter million residents, this once thriving and diverse metropolis was abandoned around 750 CE, but it was never lost or forgotten. Because of the enormity of the pyramids, some 600 years later the Nahuatl-speaking Mexica peoples assumed the site had to have been built by the gods, and so they named it Teotihuacan, "The Place of the Gods."

Temple of the Feathered Serpent

Pyramid of the Sun, one of the largest structures in prehispanic mesoamerica. Aligned with the mountain beyond.

Pyramid of the Moon, as seen from the Pyramid of the Sun