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The
Avenue of the Dead was the main street of Teotihuacan. It ran for more than
2.5 km, beginning at the Moon Plaza to the north and extending beyond the Ciudadela
and the Great Compound complexes to the south. According to Millon (Cowgill
1992a:96; Millon 1981:221), the avenue continued even further south, terminating
near the edge of the mountains that can be seen in the background of this photo.
The
avenue divided the city into two sections. Apartment compounds with pyramidal
constructions were arranged on both sides of the avenue, often symetrically
and sharing the same orientation. This highly planned city-layout suggests
that the avenue may have been planned since its earliest phases of urbanization.
The
main sector of the avenue was evidently the section between the Moon Pyramid
and the Rio San Juan channel. This part of the avenue was lined with long talud-tablero
platforms. Access to flanking residential zones was confined to masonry stairways
with balustrades. The width of the avenue varies significantly between different
sections, ranging from 40 to 95 meters. A large long channel under the floor
of the avenue gathered rain water from neighboring architectural units and drained
it into Rio San Juan.
Avenue
of the Dead movie
