Photo album: "Mexico: Teotihuacán"

Fly over a photo with the mouse to enlarge it

Click on a  photo to open it in a new window

We can finally recover our suitcases on Thursday March 22nd, 1973, after having passed through police and customs controls, just before departure. We takeoff around 8 P.M. in a DC8 of UTA which transports us to Nadi (Fiji), where we arrive in the evening. We only leave the next day, Friday March 23rd around 4:30 P.M. with a Boeing 707 of Qantas. When we cross the International Date Line, we set our watches 24 hours backward and, as a result, we land at Papeete on Thursday March 22nd around 9 P.M.. We takeoff around midnight and arrive at Acapulco on March 23rd, around 11:50 A.M.. A last flight brings us to Mexico City around 1:30 P.M. the same day. We spend the afternoon in Mexico City visiting and booking flights to go to Mérida, in the Yucatán peninsula, and, the next day, on Saturday March 24th, we go on an excursion, to visit the ancient city of Teotihuacán, about 40 km from Mexico City.

We arrive in Mexico City on Friday March 23rd, 1973 in the early afternoon. We leave in a Boeing 727 of Mexicana, on Sunday March 25th, around 7:45 A.M.. We land at Mérida, in Yucatán, at about 9 A.M.. We leave Mérida, once more in a Boeing 727 of Mexicana, on Wednesday March 28th, around 10:15 P.M.. We takeoff from Mexico City airport on Friday March 30th, around 12:45 A.M. in a DC8 of Aeromexico. We make a first stop at Miami around 4:15 P.M., and a second one at Madrid, on March 31st, from 5:45 to 9:15 A.M.. When we will land at Paris Orly airport, on Saturday March, 1973 at about 11 A.M., our trip around the World will be completed.

In the afternoon of March 23rd, we take a walk in Mexico City and visit a few travel agencies in order to organise our stay. We are, now, in Paseo de la Reforma, in front of the Mexican Independence Memorial.

On the way to Teotihuacán, on March 24th afternoon, we stop to visit Guadalupe's Basilica. After the Spanish conquest of Mexico, an apparition of the Virgin Mary in this place facilitated the conversion of a great number of Indians. The basilica has been built to show the gratitude of the faithful. Unfortunately, the ground under the basilica is not very firm and the basilica has tilted a little during the centuries.

Guadalupe is a much visited pilgrimage place. This woman is walking on her knees towards the basilica.

We are now in Teotihuacán, in front of the Palace of  the Jaguar.

Teotihuacán is a very ancient city, the builders of which are unknown. Its construction began around 300 B.C. and it knew its apogee between 150 and 450 A.D.. It is the Aztec who, later, gave to the city its current name that means "the place where men became gods".

During its apogee, Teotihuacán which counted more than 200 thousand inhabitants, had a considerable influence over all the Central America, similar to the antique Rome's.

Painting, inside the Temple of the Jaguar.

Teotihuacán, the Plaza of the Moon.

Teotihuacán, the Pyramid of the Moon. It has a 145-metre-sided square base and it is 42 meters high.

Facing the Pyramid of the Moon, the Avenue of the Dead is nearly 3 kilometres long.

The Pyramid of the Sun, the sides of its square base are 225 metres long and its height is 63 metres. It has been built around 150 B.C. and it is the second pyramid, as for its dimensions, of all America (after the Great Pyramid of Cholula, near Puebla, Mexico).

At the foot of the Pyramid of the Sun.

Jacques is climbing the stairway of the Pyramid of the Sun.

From the top of the Pyramid of the Sun, we perceive, at a distance, the Pyramid of the Moon. In the beginning, a temple was built on the top of either of the two Pyramids.

Jacques is descending the stairway of the Pyramid of the Sun. We can see the Plaza of the Sun, below.

We are walking in the Avenue of the Dead, towards the Pyramid of the Moon. Even if this pyramid is less high than the one of the Sun, the tops of the two pyramids are at the same elevation because the Pyramid of the Moon has been built on a higher ground.

From the top of the Pyramid of the Moon, we see the Pyramid of the Sun in the sunset.light. We will watch, later, a "sound and light" show before going back to Mexico City.  Tomorrow morning we will leave to Yucatán.

Go back

.

.

.

.

.

.

.