Pyramid of the Moon
At the northern end of the Avenue of the Dead, the massive platform that anchors the whole plaza is the Pyramid of the Moon — the second-largest temple at Teotihuacan and the second-largest pyramid in Mesoamerica. It stands 43 to 45 metres tall on a rectangular base of roughly 130 by 150 metres, with thirteen smaller platforms flanking the Plaza of the Moon in front of it. Its profile was deliberately shaped to echo Cerro Gordo, the mountain rising behind it, known in Nahuatl as tenan — "mother of stone." The pyramid was dedicated to Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of water and the moon, and its foundations conceal at least six successive building phases. Walk toward it and you are, in a sense, walking back through time — each outer layer encasing an earlier, hidden world.
Mexico · 4 The overlooked corners inside
The overlooked corners inside
Structure
What you see on the surface is only the outermost skin. The sloping faces follow the talud-tablero style common across Mesoamerica — alternating inward-angled slopes (talud) and vertical rectangular panels (tablero) stacked level by level. The full platform stands 43 metres high, roughly 147 metres east–west and 130 metres north–south. But this is just the outermost shell: underneath lie seven successive structures, each one sealed inside the next.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Siting and Orientation
The Pyramid of the Moon was not placed here by accident. It was set deliberately at the far end of the Avenue of the Dead, directly below Cerro Gordo, so that the entire length of the avenue becomes a procession — crowds walking toward the pyramid, toward the mountain beyond. Connecting pyramid and avenue is a public plaza at its base; to the people who used this space, the plaza was the true ceremonial heart, with the pyramid rising behind it like a stage.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Building Phases
The pyramid you see is actually seven pyramids in one. Seven successive structures were built here, each encasing its predecessor, every new layer "renewing" the temple's religious weight for its era. The innermost core, Building 1, is the oldest structure at Teotihuacan, dating to around 100 CE — at that stage just a square platform with sloping sides roughly 23.5 metres across. Everything you see today grew outward from it.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Burials
Inside the layers of the Pyramid of the Moon, excavators found five burial deposits, numbered 2 through 6. Each contained sacrificed individuals interred alongside small figurines, obsidian objects, and animal remains. One detail that often causes confusion: the building phases are numbered oldest-to-newest (1 to 7), while the burials are numbered in the order they were discovered (2 to 6) — the two sequences do not match. Burials appear only from Building 4 onward; the three earliest construction phases contain none.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
FAQ
What overlooked corners are worth seeing inside Pyramid of the Moon?
Structure, Siting and Orientation, Building Phases and more — 4 spots in all, each with sources and a guide in your language to read or listen to on the spot.
Is the Pyramid of the Moon guide free?
All 4 guides are free.