Tenayuca

How to get there

From Mexico City take metro line 5 as far as the Estación de Autobuses del Norte, from there continue by bus; by car or taxi along the Insurgentes Norte as far as the crossroads with the Río Consulado and the Calzada Vallejo, then north-west on the Calzada Vallejo to the village of San Bartolo.

12km/7.5mi north of the centre of Mexico City near Tlalnepantla stands the impressive pyramid of Tenayuca, which was extended upwards on seven occasions between the 13th and 16th c. As a product of the clash between the advanced civilisation of the Toltecs and the up-and-coming Chichimec empire, the serpent-shaped pyramid of Tenayuca is a classic example of the architectural styles that the Aztecs employed in constructing their temple pyramids. History

According to tradition Tenayuca (Náhuatl: "walled square") was where Chichimecs who had taken part in the destruction of Tula settled under their leader Xólotl ("immense") in ad 1224. In 1246 Xólotl and his followers Nepaltzin ("honoured cactus fruit") and Tlotzin ("falcon") succeeded in conquering the Toltecs who had recently settled in Culhuacán. At the beginning of the 14th c. the Chichimecs, who had already been heavily influenced by the Toltecs, moved their capital to Texcoco. From that point on Tenayuca came increasingly under the influence of other peoples such as the Tepanecs, Tlahuicas and the Mexica and from the middle of the 15th c. onwards the inhabitants of this region were to a large extent ruled by neighbouring Tenochtitlán. After the conquest the Spanish destroyed the temples on the pyramid and installed Rodrigo de Paz Moctezuma, a son of the Aztec ruler, Moctezuma II, as governor of Tenayuca. Initial archaeological explorations of the area were undertaken in 1900 by Leopoldo Batres, the work being continued in 1931 and 1957 by Ignacio Marquina.