Teotihuacan is the awesome temple complex about an hour outside of Mexico City. It has the 3rd largest pyramid in the world. Built (I think) about 2400 yrs ago, it had about 200,000 inhabitants. Most of the structures were originally painted red, while the earth was paved and painted white. And, most impressively, it was built without beasts of burden, wheels used as labor-saving devices, slave labor, or paid workers. It was all volunteer work.
Our guide was born here, and his father and grandfather were tour guides. He studied 2 yrs for his credentials, and he really knew his stuff. The place was originally dedicated to water: rain, rivers, lakes. The people who built it used both a solar calendar with 365 day years, and a lunar calendar with 270 days per year. Every 52 years the calendars aligned, and they rebuilt their main temples (pyramids), layering a new 'skin' to the existing. So the main structures you see here are actually the 6th layer of building. After about 300 years of glory, the place was abandoned. No one knows why, although drought is a leading theory. I suspect it was the upkeep.
Teotihuacan is the awesome temple complex about an hour outside of Mexico City. It has the 3rd largest pyramid in the world. Built (I think) about 2400 yrs ago, it had about 200,000 inhabitants. Most of the structures were originally painted red, while the earth was paved and painted white. And, most impressively, it was built without beasts of burden, wheels used as labor-saving devices, slave labor, or paid workers. It was all volunteer work. 
Our guide was born here, and his father and grandfather were tour guides. He studied 2 yrs for his credentials, and he really knew his stuff. The place was originally dedicated to water: rain, rivers, lakes. The people who built it used both a solar calendar with 365 day years, and a lunar calendar with 270 days per year. Every 52 years the calendars aligned, and they rebuilt their main temples (pyramids), layering a new 'skin' to the existing. So the main structures you see here are actually the 6th layer of building. After about 300 years of glory, the place was abandoned. No one knows why, although drought is a leading theory. I suspect it was the upkeep. 
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