Floating Above Teotihuacán

Last Sunday morning's hot air balloon trip over Teotihuacán was an incredible experience.  Here are some photos and videos as we glided over the ruins of what was the largest city in the Americas more than 1,500 years ago.

We headed toward the Pyramid of the Sun, a structure that is as tall as a twenty story building and is nearly as tall as the Great Pyramid at Giza.

Alejandro took this video

In front of the Pyramid of the Sun is the so-called Avenue of the Dead which runs over a mile, the entire length of the archaeological site.

The road was named the Avenue of the Dead by the Aztecs who arrived on the scene centuries after Teotihuacán had been abandoned.  The structures along the avenue were covered with dirt, and the Aztecs thought that they were burial mounds.

At the far southern end of the Avenue of the Dead is a temple complex which the Spanish named the Citadel.

At the opposite end of the Avenue of the Dead is the Pyramid of the Moon.

The city at its height had a population of around 125,000 people and covered a much larger area than the current archaeological zone.  A few structures have been excavated outside the main area.

Floating over the valley of Teotihuacán

 

As we circled back for our landing, we had a good view of the entire archaeological site.

I would say that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I really hope to do this flight again sometime!