Teotihuacan: Pyramid of the Sun and Moon

In this blog post, the exploration of the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon will be further examined and discussed, with a focus on the their size and placement in relation to other structures along the Avenue of the Dead. After learning about these structures in class, they have to me become essentially the symbols of Teotihuacan and the importance of their size and even placement is relevant because it gives us an idea of what their purpose was.

                                                         
                                                        [Fig. 1 - Pyramid of the Sun]

Firstly, the Pyramid of the Sun [Fig. 1], is one of the most important monuments in Mesoamerican history. In terms of size, the pyramid was meant to echo the shape of the mountains in the background, (the fact that the shapes are so similar cannot be a coincidence.) Furthermore, the pyramid is set off of the Avenue of the Dead and according to Google Maps, it is between the Pyramid of the Moon and the Ciudadela because at this time Teotihuacan did not see the Ciudadela as being the main focus of the city. Instead, the people spread out their great monuments along the Avenue of the Dead, almost as if the trek to see these structures was an act of penance and reflection.

[Fig. 2 - Pyramid of the Moon] 

As for the Pyramid of the Moon, [Fig. 2], this structure, although being smaller than the Pyramid of the Sun, also echoes the mountains in the background. Both the Pyramid of the Sun and Moon were meant to relate to the natural landscape around them, which is important because later civilizations who were influenced by Teotihuacan also took to their building style in a naturalistic way as well.

Furthermore, the people of Teotihuacan created a great axial alignment and looking at pictures or using Google Maps even, one can see that the ruling palace at the center of the city, marks the political power at the time and also creates a cosmic diagram of the rulers being at the center. It is also important to note that although Teotihuacan influenced many later cities, such as Tikal in terms of architecture and also in terms of style amongst the rulers, it also took its layout from places like La Venta. If you view La Venta on Google Maps, you can see the strong axial alignment and pyramids with flanking, platform areas, similar to the pyramidal organization at La Venta, see [Fig. 3].

            [Fig. 3 - La Venta pyramid layout]

In closing, Teotihuacan is home to two of the most significant structures in all of Mesoamerica, and the two monuments to this day continue to baffle people because of their enormous size. The location of the Pyramid of the Sun is also relevant because certain astrological events can be viewed from its point. These two structures overall in terms of size and placement are important Mesoamerican monuments because they give us insight into the differing views on city planning and how people at that time were constructing buildings, especially where they were constructing them, and for what reasons.