Over a hundred and fifty
archaeological sites have been explored and made accessible to the public. In
addition to that 29.000 sites have been registered all over Mexico located
mainly in five regions.
Cultural tourism
destinations
Archaeology
The Central Valleys:encompassingthestatesofMexico,
Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Morelos andMexicoCity.
Amongstthemostfamoussites
are Tenochtitlan, Tula, Cuicuilco,
Teotihuacan, Cholula, Cantona, Xochitecatl
yCacaxtla.
Tenochtitlan, at one time capital of
the Aztec Empire, nowadays Mexico City. It was built on the lake that used to flood the
Central Valley of Mexico.
The small island, enlarged via a system of land refill
and reclamation through small, floating, plots of land known as chinampas, gave
rise to numerous small canals which connected a great number of houses,
palaces, temples, a fully stocked zoo, plazas, markets and aqueducts. All these infrastructure supported a social and political
organization cantered around the Calpulli (productive
communities) located at the main cardinal points: Azacoalco
(northeast), Zoquiapan (southeast), Moyotla (southwest) and Cuepopan
(northwest).
Tula’s archaeological site lies 80 kilometres north
of Mexico City
and used to be the capital city of the Toltecs. One
of their main contributions was the development of the “interior
space” concept, inherited to other cultures. The Toltecs
achieved the building of magnificent rooms, which roofs were sustained by
columns, an element unknown in Mesoamerica at
the time.
Cuicuilco is located in Mexico City’s southeast. Its
main distinctive element is its circular pyramid, which has a diameter of
nearly 150 meters.
Teotihuacan, the city of the Gods is located 50-km
northeast of Mexico City
in a region known as the Central Highlands. It has been considered to be one of
the most important sites in Mesoamerica during
the Classic period and set guidelines for future cultures that inhabited the
region.
