Teotihuacan is a fascinating Mesoamerican archaeological site, located roughly 40 kms from Mexico city. The name Teotihuacan means "The Place where Men became Gods" or "The Place where Gods were born". The name was given to the city by the Aztecs when they discovered it centuries after it had been abandoned at around 550 CE.
The origins of Teotihuacan are lost in remote antiquity. Scholars believe that the city was established at around 100 BCE, but it could be far older than that. The city was destroyed and burned down in 550 CE, possibly due to a volcanic eruption, and by the time the Aztecs found it the city was already in ruins. The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan are not known.
I had visited Teotihuacan in 2009, in course of a long journey through some of the most fascinating archaeological sites of Mexico. Teotihuacan was probably the most intriguing and spectacular of all the places I had seen in Mexico. Its vast dimensions and grand layout speaks of a time long past, when the ancients modeled their cities and palaces following the map of the heavens.