Teotihuacan or "The dwelling of the Gods"/ And Coyoacan

Teotihuacan, a very special place within Mesoamerica and also the world. It makes me very curious about what happened here, who these people were and what language(s) they spoke (no, we do not know what language the "Teotihuacanos"-name given by the Aztecs- spoke although it has been conjectured that they were speakers of Nahuatl). I took many pictures so here are some of them.

Here I am in Teotihuacan, the "place where time began" (according to legend). Now, I don't want anyone to be confused; Teotihuacan does not mean "place where time began" but rather "the home or dwelling of the Gods". I took so many pictures but do not have enough space to put all of them. Needless to say, I had a wonderful experience here and I do believe that something mystical and perhaps very powerful juggernauted this city into the realm of legendary places in the world. Is juggernauted even a word? Anyways, here are a few interesting FACTS: There are images of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god, in places like Chalcatzingo and San Bartolo a few hundred years before Teotihuacan came to be. BUT he was a minor god and after Teotihuacan surfaced as the real power of Mesoamerica (by 300CE the population was 100,000) Quetzalcoatl became one of the most important gods of the Mesoamerican pantheon. So it is believed that something happened here in Teotihuacan that transformed this minor deity into one of the two or three most important gods. Also, the entire city (I mean Everything) was planned. It sits at 17degrees North and the "avenida de los muertos" (the avenue of the dead) is North/South. They have found sacrificial burials under the Pyramid of the Moon and the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent (always the number of 18) and as of yet, they have not found any image of a king or ruler (which is extremely rare for any Mesoamerican site that has glyphs and Teotihuacan does have glyphs/images that as of yet cannot be read). I have been learning so much and I am just fascinated by these ancient sites.

These are some images of the Feathered Serpent pyramid, the final pyramid to be constructed at Teotihuacan. It's very interesting because in the 4th century CE, scholars (archaeologists) believe that there was a change in the political power at Teotihuacan becuase, as a structure dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, the pyramid had to be changed. Whoever came into power did not want Quetzalcoatl to be worshipped as he once was so the "Adosada" was constructed in front of the pyramid in order to hide it in the background. In these pictures you can see the sculpted images of Tlaloc, the Central Mexican god of rain (with the big goggle-like eyes) and Quetzalcoatl (who at some sites in Mesoamerica is portrayed as having a rattle at the end of his tail). I also included a picture of the Adosada and the pyramid behind it so you can see how the Teotihuacanos tried to cover it up.

And here is the Casa Azul, el Museo Frida Kahlo. It was much bigger than I imagined and sooooo blue (yes, my favorite color). I absolutely love Frida (her name was originally spelled Frieda which I think means freedom in German but she changed the spelling in the late 20s or early 30s because of Hitler). I already know much of her life because I have several books about her and have seen a few movies and documentaries about her so being able to visit her house (which belonged to her parents before it became her and Diego's house) was a very special treat. I have also included a picture of the church that sits on the zocalo of Coyoacan, a suburb of Mexico City and where Frida Kahlo grew up. I loved Coyoacan and want to go back in order to be able to spend more time there.