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The Moon Pyramid
is located at the northern end of the Avenue of the Dead, which was the
main axis of the city. The pyramid, facing south, was built as the principal
monument of the Moon Pyramid complex. The five-tiered platform was attached
to the front of the Moon Pyramid. (Photo left, showing the front facade
excavated and reconstructed by the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology
and History in 1962-64.) It is said that the present pyramid has interior
structures within it (Millon 1973: Fig. 25). However, the pyramid still
remains as one of the least understood major monuments in Teotihuacan.
The
consolidated structures around the Moon Plaza demonstrate that the city was
highly planned symmetrically and was integrated into the local geography. This
may be realized by standing on the center line of the Avenue of the Dead, namely
on the main axis of the city. The top of mountain Cerro Gordo dominating the
background of the Moon Pyramid exactly coincides at a certain point of the avenue
with the top of the pyramid as shown in this photo (left); a pan-Mesoamerican
notion that the pyramid represents a sacred mountain seems to have been an integral
element of the city plan. The Avenue of the Dead begins at the Moon Plaza, which
was surrounded by 15 pyramidal structures including the Moon Pyramid (Photo
right taken from the Moon Pyramid). The Quetzalpapalotl Palace lies immediately
to the southwest of the Moon Plaza. Like the Main Plaza in the Ciudadela, the
Moon Plaza seem to have been one of the main ritual precincts of the city.
Recent Discoveries:
