Teotihuacan

A base of 220m and a height of 65m make it the third largest pyramid on this continent. Climbing to the top is currently barred, and visitors go only to the lower terrace.

It shuts off the avenue at its northern end and appears shaped after the mountain behind. From the plaza in front, the avenue runs dead straight to the south.

Forty metres wide, and the name was given later by the Aztecs. The platforms on either side step down and up, so the level under your feet keeps changing.

Serpent heads project from the sides of the stairway and once carried paint. More than two hundred human burials were found beneath the structure.

In the western living quarters, paintings in red pigment survive on the walls. A roof was put over them, which makes this a rare patch out of the sun.

Launched before sunrise, the basket drifts over the site with the whole avenue below. A little wind cancels it, so the schedule needs slack.

Excavated pottery and masks are gathered here beside a scale model covering the entire city. The model sits under a glass floor that you walk across.

The city grew rich on obsidian, and the village still works it. The knapping of a raw block into an edge is demonstrated in front of you.

A tunnel of 103m was found under the feathered serpent temple with three chambers at its end. It remains closed to visitors, so the excavation photographs are what you see.

At the March equinox crowds arrive dressed in white. Tickets sell out that day and the avenue fills end to end.

A noble's palace tucked into the Moon Pyramid plaza's southwest corner. Each courtyard pillar bears a carved bird-butterfly figure, some still with inlaid obsidian eyes. The Jaguar Palace, reached below and behind, has murals of jaguars blowing conch trumpets.

A residential compound east of the Sun Pyramid, outside the fence near Gate 4. Its murals show tiny people swimming and playing ball in a paradise ruled by the rain god. Reaching it means a separate walk from the main site, so few make it.

A small museum near Gate 3 holding mural fragments lifted from around the site. Feathered serpents, jaguars and priests painted on red grounds hang at arm's length. Being indoors, it also makes a good shelter from the midday sun.

A fortress-like Augustinian monastery from the 16th century, 15 minutes' drive from the ruins. Its main doorway is carved in lacy Plateresque stone, and the cloister walls keep murals from that time. Tradition holds that the Christmas posadas began here.