Exploring ancient Mexico

Sunset, Nov, 1985

The Aztecs believed they lived in an age called the Fifth Sun and that it would collapse "when the seed of the earth has ended." To appease the gods and forestasll that end, they conducted perpetual war and sacrifice, offering human blood and hearts to their deities. How many thousands were sacrificed annually remains a subject for debate, as does Aztec cannibalism (human flesh was ritually eaten in a stew).

Razed by Hernan Cortes and his conquistadores in the 1520s, then raided for colonial building blocks, Tenochtitlan disappeared. Now excavated, the Great Temple--with its twin sanctuaries of Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, the gods of water and war--was "a place of glory for the Mexicas and a place of suffering for those under their power," says Eduardo Matos Moctezuma, coordinator of the dig. Walkways through the ruins give you a close-up look.

Nearby outposts of civilization

With the demise of Teotihuacan, the cultural torch passed to Cholula and Xochicalco. Each can be a day-long outing from Mexico City, but both are near state capitals where you can spend an enjoyable night.

Cholula is about a 2-hour drive from Mexico City. Seen from a distance, the site appears to be another hill rising from a church-studded valley. Seen up close, it reveals the layers of its 2,000-year past as neatly as a sliced onion.

Tunnels dug by archeologists in the 1930s lead you right through the Great Pyramid, revealing earlier structures superimposed one atop another. Outside, you'll see architectural styles from Teotihuacan to Aztec.

The town of Cholula is worth investigating, especially for its churches (at least 32 of them. You could spend the night within sight of the pyramid at the Villa Arqueologica, where the restaurant serves French food.

Xochicalco makes a good day outing from Mexico City or a short side trip on the drive from Cuernavaca to Taxco, the silver-crafting town. The site offers a commanding view of the Morelos Valley and silence broken only by the occasional clinking of cowbells. An important ceremonial and trading center from A.D. 700 to 1000, it was a crossroads for travelers from Teotihuacan and the Mayan realms.

Walk around the Temple of the Feathered Serpent: on its sloping talud, carved relief figures almost jump out at you. Eight images of toothy serpents undulate around priests wearing headdresses of quetzal bird feathers.

Down the hill from the temple lies what many believe is Mesoamerica's only underground astronomical observatory. From 11 to 1 daily, you can walk into a cave to reach a chamber where a 2-foot-wide hexagonal shaft runs 20 feet up to daylight. Around the summer solstice, the sun beams straight down the shaft, creating an image on the cave floor.

In Yucatain, meet the mysterious Maya

Based on Merida, Yucatan's colonial capital, or Cancun on the Caribbean coast, you could arrange to vsit at least two sites in as many days. You might spend a night at Chichen Itza, Uxmal, or Coba. After dark at Chichen and Uxmal, recorded sound-and-light shows offer unabashed Mayan-Hollywood melodrama, as well as a chance to see the ruins at night.