Teotihuacán

Teotihuacán rose in the Valley of Mexico in the 1st–6th cc AD as one of the ancient world’s largest planned cities, built on an uncompromising sacred axis. The Avenue of the Dead links the Pyramid of the Moon, the Pyramid of the Sun (c. 100), and the Ciudadela precinct with the Feathered Serpent temple (c. 250), turning urban space into choreography for ritual and state power. Murals and incense burners from 300–600 evoke a vivid pantheon in which storm, fertility, and warfare animated architecture. Later revered by the Aztecs, the ruins still embody a vision of cosmic order made monumental.