If you’re a history buff, you know that Mexico City was a thriving metropolis when Hernán Cortes and his Spanish army invaded. The pre-Columbian city of Tenochtitlan was built in the middle of a lake, accesible by bridges and canoes. The city had stone temples and palaces. After the Spanish conquest, the Aztec buildings were destroyed and buried underneath the colonial city erected on top of it.
Gradually the lake was filled in and the mega-city we call Mexico City was created.
Walking around Mexico City you wouldn’t imagine that there is a trove of pre-Hispanic artifacts under your feet. Regular news reports of artifacts found during public works projects suggest otherwise. There are several places in and around Mexico City where you can get a glimpse into the past, at excavated temples and huge museums.
The Anthropology Museum
Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology is large and dense. Located on Reforma Avenue in Chapultepec Park, it has the largest collection of pre-Columbian artifacts I’ve ever seen. In fact, I’ve never made it through the entire museum in one day! If you’ve got all day to spend there and want to see the whole thing, arrive early and plan to have lunch in the on-site restaurant. Otherwise, choose the exhibits that interest you the most and focus on those. Some of my favorites include giant Olmec heads, a replica of Moctezuma’s feather head piece, and a Mayan tomb.
As you walk through the museum, don’t forget the patios! In the gardens around the museum you’ll find models and replicas of archeological sites. The replicas are displayed in thick foliage that makes you feel like you’re deep in the forest in spite of the sound of traffic on Reforma Avenue.
El Templo Mayor
The Templo Mayor complex occupies the better part of a city block in the Historic Center of Mexico City. It includes the excavated and restored ruins of part of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The visit also includes a large museum housing artifacts found during the various phases of excavation. A leisurely visit took me about three hours, including the 8 exhibition halls and a walk through the ruins. Of particular note are two huge carved stone tablets. They are displayed in the museum using balconies, so that they may be admired close up and from above.
After visiting the archeological site and museum, you’re probably going to be hungry. El Mayor restaurant is located right next to the ruins and it’s terrace has a stunning view of the archeological site and the Zocalo (central square) beyond. The food served is traditional Mexican with a twist and very good. Try the fideo seco (a pasta dish), which has tomato sauce, cheese and black beans, and the chile relleno de chicharron prensado (a stuffed chile with pressed pigskin). It’s on the heavy side, but unique and tasty.
The Pyramids at Teotihuacan
About an hour and fifteen minute drive outside of Mexico City, you’ll find the pyramids of Teotihuacan, the City of the Gods. The builders of Teotihuacan predate the Aztecs by hundreds of years. In fact, the Aztecs also visited this historical site, no doubt with the same wonder that we do today.
The pyramid complex is huge, including the Pyramid of the Moon, the Pyramid of the Sun, the Citadel and the Avenue of the Dead, connecting them. Still, what we see today includes only about a quarter of the city at it’s height. Wear good walking shoes on your visit, and be sure to take a hat and sunglasses, and wear good sunscreen. I made the mistake of wearing a new sunscreen, and it turned out to be ineffective against the bright sunlight on the pyramids. Don’t make that mistake – the skin on your ears will thank you!
If you visit on a Sunday, when entrance is free for Mexican citizens and residents, be sure to go straight to the Pyramid of the Sun before the line gets very long. That was our last stop before leaving and there were lines everywhere – lines to go up, lines in the middle and lines to come down. We wished we hadn’t saved it for last.
You’ll certainly be hungry after walking through the ruins. Complete your Teotihuacan experience by eating at La Gruta, a restaurant that’s been serving traditional Mexican dishes in a volcanic cave near the pyramids since 1906. Go for the experience, not the food, which could be better. The experience of dining in the cave however, complete with traditional Mexican dancers, is not to be missed.
The restaurant doesn’t take reservations on weekends, so plan to wait for your table unless you arrive early. There is a garden and a gift shop to browse in the meantime, and the bar serves soft drinks and beer with a crunchy cracker mix to hold you over.
A quick word of warning: don’t trust the guides outside of the gates if you ask them for directions to the Gruta restaurant. We made that mistake and wound up driving all the way around the archeological site because they took us to a different spot! In fact, the restaurant is only 200 meters from Entrance 5 of the site, where we had parked.
Locations: National Museum of Anthropology: Avenida Paseo de la Reforma y Calzada Gandhi s/n Col. Chapultepec Polanco / Templo Mayor: Seminario Núm. 8, Centro Histórico / El Mayor Restaurante: República de Argentina 15, Centro Histórico / Teotihuacan Archeological Site: Ecatepec Pirámides km.22 + 600, Municipio de Teotihuacan, Estado de México, C.P. 55800 / La Gruta Restaurante: Circuito Arqueologico, San Francisco Mazapa, 55820 San Juan Teotihuacán,