Mexico City -Day 2

On the Monday, we were up and ready for a day trip to Teotihuacan (the pyramids). Although we were ready to go at the appointed time, our tour guide and bus were not, so to make us feel better,when they were finally ready to go, they incorporated a side trip to two more sites for us.

Our first stop, was near our hotel at the plaza of three epochs. It is a small and rather packed site that contained the ruins of an ancient pyramid, a colonial Catholic Church (still in use today, but only by special permission, from the ministry of culture)and some social housing. The Church was erected on the site of an indigenous spiritual and cultural site using the stones from the temple. This is a
common theme in Mexico City; we encountered at least three examples of it. It was certainly part of Catholic Church missionary/conquerer "policy" to use existing sites of importance to the people they were trying to convert or dominate.

Our second stop was at the Basilica de la Virgen de Guadalupe. A phenomenal site, that I imagine is even more impressive when there are thousands of people present (such as on December 12th, which is the celebratory day of this Virgen). Apparently, millions of people come from all over the world. Most of the devout come from Mexico and south and Central America, to visit the three Churches on the site. The oldest is perched high on the hill, the middle one is directly below it on ground that makes parts of the church cant at angles opposite to each other, and the latest is in the foreground. The more modern Church houses the cloth with the colored impression of the Virgin. Now, I've heard this and other miracle stories many times, but it is impressive to finally see (like Thomas), the evidence of such an apparition.




Our last stop for the day was at Teotihuacan. Although this was our second visit, I have to say that thanks to the tour guide, we were able to understand a bit more about the site. It is an amazing archeological site that was only recently discovered. The remaining sun and moon pyramids, and the alternating palaces and temples are fascinating. While erosion has done its job in removing much of the color and some of the detail found in the stone edifices, the friezes and sculptures that have avoided the damaging process, are amazing to see.