The Teotihuacan Valley Today: A Cultural Landscape Beyond the Pyramids
Layer upon layer of history, culture, and identity is what defines the Teotihuacan Valley beyond the great ancient city.
The Teotihuacán Valley is a territory where more than two thousand years of history continue to be written, bringing together dozens of towns. The Valley is a living ecosystem and the home of indigenous communities, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage archaeological zone and a corridor of Pueblos Mágicos, with routes of ex-convents, churches, and pulque haciendas, mountains, markets, and age-old crafts.
Acolman Viceregal Museum — Ex-Convent of San Agustin
Padre Tembleque Aqueduct
Cerro Gordo State Park
Hacienda San Miguel Ometusco
Hacienda San Antonio Xala
Franciscan Church and Ex-Convent of San Juan Evangelista
Tepexpan Archaeological Zone
Axapusco Pulque Hacienda Corridor
Great Arcade of Tepeyahualco
San Juan Teotihuacan Municipal Market
Obsidian Workshops of San Juan Teotihuacán and San Martín de las Pirámides
Sierra de Patlachique State Park
Churches, Chapels, and Convents of the Teotihuacan Valley
Ex-convents, murals, and the atrium where the Christmas posadas were born form part of this route filled with history, faith, and architecture.
Traditional Crafts of the Teotihuacan Valley: The Knowledge That Is Not Written Down
The Teotihuacan Valley holds in its traditional crafts a body of knowledge that is organic, transgenerational, and fully rooted in the territory.
Delights of the San Juan Teotihuacan de Arista Market
The San Juan Teotihuacan market works as an edible map of the valley.
Natural Heritage: Flora and Fauna of the Teotihuacan Valley
Around the pyramids lies a fascinating ecosystem, home to nopal groves, maguey fields, coyotes, and hawks, among many other inhabitants.
What the Cuisine of Teotihuacan Has to Say
Every dish in the valley is the result of centuries of ingenuity in the face of water scarcity.
The Hands That Work Obsidian: Master Craftspeople of San Juan Teotihuacan
The art of transforming volcanic glass into mirrors, sculptures, and blades is a craft that has continued without interruption in this region for fifteen centuries.
The Pulque Route: Haciendas, Tinacales, and Maguey Villages of the Teotihuacan Valley
Tinacales with Porfirian murals, maguey fields in production, and tlachiqueros scraping at dawn are some of the ingredients of this remarkable pulque route.
Tenan: Teotihuacan’s Cerro Gordo, Sacred Mountain of the Valley
The water of the valley originates in this extinct volcano, whose presence has been fundamental to the ecosystem and worldview of the Valley.
The Teotihuacan Valley, a Biocultural Landscape
The Teotihuacan Valley is, above all, diversity: of landscapes, species, cultures, and ways of inhabiting a territory that has been transforming for more than two thousand years.
Padre Tembleque Aqueduct: A Majestic Work of Cultural Engineering
With 48 kilometers of stone and an arch 33 meters tall, this aqueduct is the most audacious work of viceregal Mexico.
The Teotihuacan Valley by Bicycle: A Route for Discovering the Territory
Dirt roads through maguey fields, pyramids, and ex-convents: four routes for exploring the Valley at the right pace of the landscape.
The Towns of the Teotihuacan Valley: Living Communities Alongside the Pyramids
Many of the hundreds of thousands of visitors Teotihuacan receives each year are unaware that just beyond the entrance to the archaeological site there are places with centuries of their own history
The Temazcal in the Teotihuacan Valley: Body, Steam, and Ancestral Memory
Entering a temazcal in the Teotihuacan Valley means physically stepping inside a dome heated by volcanic stones.
The Ancient Cuisine of the Teotihuacan Valley
The cuisine of this region has been developing for some two thousand years, and this long history is reflected in its identity and exquisiteness.
Obsidian with History: The Legacy of Master Craftsperson Carmen Mnedoza
From her workshop Mar de Obsidiana, master craftsperson Carmen Mendoza recounts a craft that begins in the mines, and is passed down from generation to generation.
Hands That Shape History: Master Potter Enrique Barrios
Master Enrique makes ceramics in the Teotihuacan style — pieces that seek to come as close as possible to those of the pre-Hispanic era, even though each one turns out completely unique.
Myths and Legends of Teotihuacan
When night falls over the valley, other stories take over from archaeology.
The Teotihuacan Valley, a network of communities with their own identity and a wealth of history
Around the pyramids live towns and communities full of life and overflowing with history.
This Is Where the Pinata Was Born: The Ex-Convent of San Agustin, in Acolman
Acolman was a lordship allied with the Tepanecs, later subdued by the Mexica.
Nature Among the Pyramids: The Other Teotihuacan
Behind the archaeological draw lies a landscape that is rarely mentioned: from the semi-desert to the heights of Cerro Gordo, life organizes itself around the maguey, which acts as a biological corridor and feeds bats and hummingbirds.
The Padre Tembleque Aqueduct: A Story of Collective Engineering
In the sixteenth century, the Franciscan friar Francisco Tembleque imagined the unthinkable: carrying water from the springs of Cerro del Tecajete to the Teotihuacan Valley, 48 kilometers away.
A Day in the Valley: An Itinerary Beyond the Pyramids
Dedicating a day to the Teotihuacan Valley will open the doors to a territory with an overflowing cultural offering.