In 1978, the power company was digging and found this:
You can see a person on the right of the photo to get an idea of just how huge this really is. Though archaeologists knew roughly where the great pyramid of Tenochtitlan was and had even found a corner here or an artifact there, most of it was under the Metropolitan Cathedral and an upper-class neighborhood, so no one was much interested in having it excavated until they found this disk of Coyolxauhqui, the moon goddess, dating to the end of the 15th century. That sparked enough interest that they tore down buildings and began excavating in earnest.
The ground is sloped now because the lake underneath México City is pushing the ground up. In other areas, the ground is sinking and you can see a noticeable tilt in the buildings. This uplift has just happened in the last 30 years, since tearing town the buildings that were once on top of the pyramid.
The Museo del Templo Mayor was another fantastic museum showcasing all the offerings found inside the Templo Mayor. It was four stories of room after room of carvings, skulls, feathers, bones, pottery, and more.
We finally got rained on today. Thankfully is was right at the end of our day and we had umbrellas. We've been so lucky with the weather, it was bound to happen.
Our "isn't that interesting" list:
Our "isn't that interesting" list:
- The bottom floor of buildings is labeled PB (piso bajo) for bottom floor and then the next floor up is the 1st floor, etc.
- In public restrooms you are either given toilet paper by the attendant when you pay to use them or there is one roll outside of the stalls that you take before you go into the stalls.
- There are kids everywhere sitting next to their mothers while they work all day. Some have some space to run around and play and others just sit on the ground or on a stool next to their mother (for 8 hours a day, I presume).
- There are no drinking fountains anywhere. Haven't seen a single one.