Cuernavaca - Teopanzolco

Teopanzolco (Náhuatl: "abandoned temple"), a pre-Columbian site dating from late post-Classic period (1250-1521), is located on the north-east outskirts of the city, near the railway station. It was discovered only in 1910 when, following fighting between government troops and Zapata-led rebels, traces of a wall were left uncovered by an exploding shell. The complex, a last relic of the old capital of Tlahuica and typically Aztec in style, comprises two pyramids of different age, superimposed one upon the other. A double external stairway ascends to the top of the pyramid where the remains of walls belonging to two temples (to Huitzilopochtli and Tláloc) can still be seen. Embedded in the walls are primitive animal heads, worked in stone and at one time stucco-covered. Smaller pyramids were dedicated to Ehécatl (the god of wind) and Tezcatlipoca ("smoking mirror").