ZONA ARQUEOLÓGICA DE TEOPANZOLCO

The remains of this site, whose name in Nahuatl means "old temple", lie in the middle of a residential area of Cuernavaca, whose development has, over time, swallowed up the signs of its original extension and importance. This site was built on a hill that owes its shape to the lava flows that have sculpted it over the centuries. It was rediscovered in the 1910s, during the revolution, by the armed forces of Emiliano Zapata, whose cannon fire revealed part of the buildings. Teopánzolco was probably one of the most important places of worship in the region: the double temple of Tláloc-Huitzilpochtli is part of a complex that includes 14 monuments, the largest of which allows us to understand how the ancients erected their adoratorios every fifty-two years. The first excavations took place in 1921. Until the earthquake of September 19, 2017, which unfortunately partially damaged the ruins, researchers believed that the foundation of the site dated from the invasion of Mexicas from Tenochtitlán, in the Late Postclassic. However, the consolidation work on the buildings has brought to light older substructures, dating from the Middle Postclassic period (1,150 - 1,200 A.D.) and the result of the architectural knowledge of another civilization, the Tlahuicas, whose construction techniques would have inspired the Mexicas in the construction of the Templo Mayor of the great Tenochtitlán...