The Ruins Downtown

Last Sunday was Nancy and Fred's last day in Mexico City.  I had purposely left that day open in case there was something that they wanted to do.  Fred, who has a great deal of interest in archaeology, wanted to go back downtown and visit the excavation of the foundations of the "Templo Mayor", the main Aztec temple.  We had previously looked down on the archaeological site from the street level, but we had not entered.

Sunday was an overcast and chilly day, but fortunately, it did not rain during our exploration of the ruins.

In 1978 utility workers doing repair work under the streets of Mexico City's historic center, came upon an enormous Aztec carving.  Archaeologists were called in, and they identified the round monolith as a depiction of Coyolxauhqui, the goddess of the moon.  The excavations continued, 13 buildings were demolished, and the base of the Aztec temple was uncovered.  Today, in the shadow of the cathedral, are the remains of Mexico City's Aztec past.

Walkways built through the site allow visitors to see the ruins closeup.  The Aztecs would continually expand their temple by building a new pyramid on top of the existing one.  Thus the excavation is a somewhat confusing jumble of six different constructions.

  

Traces of original paint can still be seen on this wall, a part of the second oldest temple.

This statue, known as a "chac mool", holds a bowl over its belly.  It was there that the hearts of sacrificial victims would be offered.

Next to the temple there was a building called the House of the Eagles.  The elite military group known as the Order of the Eagles would have secret religious ceremonies there.  The ornate carvings along the side of the stone benches are still intact.

A wall is decorated with images of skulls.

Statues were left as an offering along the pyramid steps before that level was covered to build a new pyramid.  (These statues are replicas.  The originals are now in the museum.)

Because of the thousands of artifacts found during the excavation, a new museum was built adjacent to the site to house all the finds.  It is an excellent museum.

The carving of Coyolxauhqui, whose discovery started the whole project was the centerpiece of the museum.  The disc measures more than ten feet in diameter.

The excavations still continue, and now there is another star attraction in the museum.  In 2006 an even larger carving was found.  This one is of the goddess of earth fertility, Tlaltecuhtli.  It measures more than 13 by 11 feet, and it is the largest Aztec monolith yet discovered.

From a balcony on the upper level you can look down on both of the two carvings.

The museum is filled with countless objects found at the temple.

A life-size clay sculpture of a member of the Order of Eagle Warriors.  (Their military uniform was actually an eagle costume.)

Another large clay sculpture of the god of death.  His liver is hanging out because that organ was associated with death.

This stone carving of an eagle was an incense burner.

A pottery vessel decorated with the image of Tlaloc, the rain god.

After our visit to the ruins and museum, we walked a short distance to one of my favorite restaurants in Mexico, "El Cardenal", for a delicious farewell dinner.