The Templo Mayor de Tenochtitlan was a huge temple complex in 1519 when Cortes came to Mexico City. It had been rebuilt six times (once every 52-year cycle of the Aztec calendar) and contained 78 buildings, with two tall pyramids. The Spanish were disgusted by it and insisted that it be destroyed. The Cathedral was built with many of its stones. It was mostly forgotten for the next few centuries — a few excavations in the 20th century uncovered a few things. In 1978, when building the Metro, workers uncovered an eight-ton rock slab covered with carvings. This led to it becoming a large archeological project. Now a large outdoor area shows the excavation and the ruins, and a very nice modern museum houses many artifacts.
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This water channel was dug by Mexicans much after the destruction of the Temple. But it's now a historic artifact in its own right.
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I wish I could read Aztec — there is picture writing on virtually everything. It probably says, "The White Zone is for Loading and Unloading Passengers Only."
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Skulls on a wall outside in the ruins.
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Skulls on a wall inside in the museum.
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Horus. Not him, the other one.
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The museum has a few sand pits with artifacts displayed more or less as they were found.
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An early mime performing the "inside-the box" routine, for which his heart has been cut out.
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Not-Horus again. A warrior dressed as an eagle, says the museum label.
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A model of the layout of the original temple.
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This is not exactly a desktop pattern, maybe you could put it around the edges of your screen.
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This is the slab uncovered when building the Metro which led to the major archaeological project.
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On to A Day At The Pyramids
