Surroundings, Teotihuacán

Situated 500 m (1620 ft) to the east of the Sun Pyramid, the site of Tepantitla (Náhuatl: "Place of the thick walls") has several very fine wall-paintings; their subject-matter includes richly-decorated priests, the god Tláloc rising from the ocean and distributing rain, and the paradise of the rain god.

Situated about 1.5km/1mi from the Sun Pyramid, on the west side of the "Street of the Dead", is the site of Tetitla (Náhuatl: "Place with stones"), where magnificent frescos from two different architectural periods can be seen. The subjects include jaguars with head decorations made of feathers, richly dressed priests, the rain god Tláloc, the Quetzal bird and symbolic hands. 100 m (330 ft) away lie the Zacuala Palace (Palacio de Zacuala) and the Yayahuala Palace (Palacio de Yayahuala).

About 400 m (1320 ft) to the west of Tetitla are the interesting ruins of Atetelco with two patios. Of considerable interest on this site is the patio incorporated into the building, which has superb frescos of priest figures, coyotes and birds' heads. In the White Patio, the older of the two, with its three magnificent pillared walkways, the frescos depict jaguars and coyotes with feathered head decorations, as well as Tláloc symbols.

In 1997 a 500 sq. m (5375 sq ft) platform was discovered when road works were being carried out on the Mexico-Tulancingo autopista, some 2.5km/1.6mi north-east of the Moon Pyramid, near the town of Metepec. Under the platform was an extraordinary tomb with the remains of a high-ranking child personage. The special feature of this grave site is that the 50 richly-dressed female figurines appear to symbolise a theatrical representation of life in Teotihuacán. No kind of written evidence has been found in Teotihuacán, so this physical depiction could be of considerable historical importance. Large numbers of ceramic vessels, sea-shells and sea-snails were also found.