The Twelfth Month

We head to the end of another year as we turn the page of the calendar to December.  The last photo of the 2025 calendar which I had custom-made with pictures that I took of Mexican archaeological sites is of one of the country's most famous ruins... Teotihuacan.

Teotihuacan is located an hour north of Mexico City, and I have lost track of how many times I have been there.  The first time was back in 1973 when I studied for a quarter in Mexico.

In the first half of the first millennium, Teotihuacan had a population of over 100,000 people, possibly more than 200,000.  It was the largest city in the Americas and one of the largest cities in the world.  The archaeological site is vast, and it is only a fraction of what the city once was.  The origins of the city are shrouded in mystery.  We do not know who built it, or exactly why it was abandoned in the 7th or 8th century.  It is dominated by two great pyramids, the Pyramid of the Sun (which you see at the left side of the photo) and the Pyramid of the Moon (from whose steps I took this picture).  Crossing the city was its main street, which the Aztecs, centuries later, called the Avenue of the Dead.  They thought that the earth-covered ruins along the avenue were burial mounds.  Excavation and restoration of the site began in the early 20th century.  In 2024, Teotihuacan received more than 1.7 million visitors, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.

I have climbed the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon many times over the years.  However, during the pandemic, both of them were closed to climbers.  The Pyramid of the Sun remains closed, but recently, visitors were once again allowed to climb part way up the Pyramid of the Moon.  So, tourists are again able to photograph this classic view looking down the Avenue of the Dead.